Zoom Raider
by Wingscribe
Summary: UPDATED - it is actually in 32 chapters now, instead of one endless bit - hope it is easier to read...
1. Prologue

FORWARD

This is a work of fiction (blah-blah-blah) it is not real, do not try this at home kids. Lara Croft™ and Tomb Raider™ are the property of EDIOS and CORE. Guys, I'm using the names, but I ain't makin' squat offa' it - so there! However, Max Reynolds originated in the twisted confines of my little noggin, so I guess he's © 2001 Mike Riegel.

A side note: The events of this work take place in mid 1998, a few months after the events of Tomb Raider 3. "Who cares?" You ask...just read on and everything will make sense...

Some remember this work fondly, and it is now presented in a revised version. Nothing has changed very drastically, but the experiences and learning (and a few appreciated reader comments) from my long break from fanfic writing have led to a large number of very small improvements throughout the work.

It was two years after first posting my story that I found out that there were people out there who were actually reading it, and many agreed that it was good - I am glad for that, but had no idea that there were those waiting for more. Please, after reading this piece, let me know what you thought (good, bad and bizarre) of it by dropping me an e-line at mikeriegel@mac.com.

WARNING - This story is pretty much PG-13 the whole way through. There is some (mildly) strong language, nudity (woo-hoo!) and a whole crap-load of violence. If you have even been offended by anything in your life, you'd better play it safe and not read this thing. Or, better yet, why not try to show a little responsibility for your actions so that I don't have to ever write another disclaimer again...

Sorry about that, I can get a little carried away at times. Anyway...

On to the show... 

ZOOM RAIDER 

Prologue

A deserted jungle road sat under a moonless summer night - not that seasons mattered much so near to the equator. Heavy rains eroded more and more of the asphalt, threatening to carry off the entire passage. However, the pavement was not going away on that particular evening, and held fast.

As this silent battle raged, so did another; one that was not-so-silent and getting closer by the moment. The sound of a turbo diesel truck engine being pushed into the red could be felt long before it rounded the corner, headlights and auxiliaries playing all about the area.

The ten wheeled behemoth, its dark green coloring betraying its military origins, was followed momentarily by two HUMVEEs. These vehicles were not the leather appointed status symbols of the overtly wealthy, they were nuts-and-bolts transports that meant business.

Where a moon roof might have been in the civilian version, these trucks bore a hatch and a light machine gun - both of which were manned and trained in the direction from which the small caravan had just come.

The trio of vehicles passed through the area and disappeared around the next curve in the road. Peace and darkness began to settle back into the area as the rain and the road once again took up their timeless battle - a battle the road was destined to lose.

As soon as this solitude had returned, it was suddenly shattered again. Once more, there was the sound of an over-revved engine, but this one was not as loud. Drowning out the symphony of pistons was a _thump-thump-thump _whose frequency increased until more light was thrown into the area...

This time, the light came from a smaller source - a single headlight of a third HUMVEE. This last truck was not nearly in the condition of its earlier siblings. much of the passenger side area was riddled with bullets, and a large area of the roof was missing. The distinctive noise that preceded the vehicle was caused by the remnants of the front tire being tossed in circles by a wheel that refused to let go...

This sole light washed back and forth as the truck tried to remain stable after coming out of the curve. Finally straightening out, the vehicle lurched forward in an attempt to gain ground on the pursued.

At last, the vehicle passed on into the night, and a small section of plants and dirt retreated from the road, back into the jungle. Under the camouflage crawled a man in possession of, among other things, a night vision scope and a powerful transmitter...

...the attack was on...


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The noise from the shredded tire was threatening to drive Lara Croft insane. Had she the time, she would have changed it thirty minutes ago when her current chase began, but Elder already had a generous head start and the Tomb Raider had committed herself.

A gentle curve became a little less gentle as Lara fought to control the three-wheeled beast. She slammed the gloved meat of her palm into the bare metal of the steering wheel, as if it would fix her shredded tire. The wheel bowed slightly and then snapped back. Lara was just about to give the thing another good whack when something caught her eye...

A racing flicker of light, followed by a larger one. Lara shielded her eyes against the flash. Before the sound of the explosion reached her she had already figured out what the fireworks were - a rocket launcher. Some of her recent encounters had taught her all about those little toys.

She continued towards the site of the explosion, hoping that there was someone else that wanted Elder out of commission and that the "Enemy of my Enemy" cliché was applicable.

In less than a minute she was there. She braked back the HUMVEE and looked over the area. Indeed, it was a little ambush that Elder had stumbled into, but things did not appear to be going as planned. The truck, while burning, was empty of the platoon of Government (whichever one was in power this week) forces. They had taken up position behind the two HUMVEEs and were firing at an unknown number of combatants in the jungle. The tracers from the vehicle mounted M-60's providing light and giving away the position of Lara's maybe-allies.

Lara formed a quick plan then tightened her seat belt and mashed the throttle on the truck. She was almost upon the first HUMVEE before she was spotted and the machine gun was swiveled in her direction - too late.

The vehicles struck each other with enough force to lift the front of Lara's ride up into the air, only to come down with an even greater impact that made Lara acutely aware of each one of her vertebra.

There were a few moments of blessed quiet, then the shooting began all over again. A quick look out of the cracked windscreen told Lara that she had changed the tide of battle. One of the ambushers was now manning the other truck's machine gun, and using it on the remaining Government troops.

Lara allowed herself a small smile, and then set about unbuckling herself. Her body groaned, but complied and she was soon outside, trademark Browning automatics drawn.

Between the rain and smoke, visibility was at a minimum. With the uncertainties of the situation, Lara vowed to be weary of everyone. 

Almost immediately, Lara came face-to-face with two of the ambushers. They were clad in tiger stripe camouflage - not the solid olive of the Government forces. There was a brief moment, her pistols facing their AK47's. Upon realizing that Lara was the one who smashed their adversaries' vehicle, they lowered their weapons with a respectful nod of thanks and proceeded in the direction of the remaining Government forces, who were taking cover near the burning truck...

Lara was happy to have some help on her side for a change, and let the two men lead the way into the fight. It was a good thing she did, a moment later a short burst of gunfire was heard, and Lara could see large caliber rounds tearing the two men apart.

So much for allies...

Lara dove for a ditch in the opposite side of the road as another burst was heard, slamming into the area she had occupied a moment before. As the shots were being fired, Lara racked her brain, trying to figure out what type of weapon was being used on her. The sound was not one of the more commonplace weapons that she had encountered throughout her adventures - it sounded...older. Whatever it was, the powerful rounds and good accuracy meant that this person was not to be trifled with. As Lara took cover in the mud, trying to locate the shooter, something started to emerge from the truck's smoke. 

Upon first glance, it appeared to be some sort of super-soldier, covered in layers of armor and armed to the teeth. It was carrying some sort of large weapon in its right hand, a weapon that looked to be wired into cranial implants.

Such thoughts would have been dismissed by anyone else - but the Tomb Raider's experiences told her that such things were possible, she just hoped that this cyber-combatant had no grudge against her. But if it did, she would deal with it as she had dealt with so many others...

Then it saw her, and went down on one knee, leveling the large weapon at her. Lara was already pulling the trigger when a secondary explosion from the truck's remaining fuel bathed the area in light and she had the chance to view the person who had her dead in his sights.

It was a camera, more specifically a camcorder that was held in shoulder mounted frame that gave it a very weapon-like appearance. This man was shooting Lara, but not in the traditional manner.

Lara pulled her pistol back to ready, silently cursing this man and herself for the horrible situation that she was almost forced to face. 

She turned away from the man, returning her thoughts to her high caliber assailant, when camera-man made a move that caught her eye. His empty left hand came up from his thigh bearing a pistol of his own.

Reacting on instinct, Lara was on her feet in an instant and vaulted into the air drawing a bead on the man in mid-flip, but she was too late. in the painfully slow moments it took Lara to bring her guns to bear, a flash and a single report came from the lone figure. Lara readied herself for the punch of the impact, but it never came.

Camera man had missed.

Not one to give second chances to kill her, Lara discharged both of her weapons in mid-air, striking him in the chest with both and sending him sprawling.

They both hit the ground at the same time, followed by the sound of another body collapsing. Lara turned to see one of the Government troops clutching his sternum and squealing in Spanish. Next to him was a WW2 vintage Browning Automatic Rifle complete with scope. This was the mystery weapon that had been shooting at Lara, and had killed the rebel troops.

It looked as though the BAR man had been well on his way to outflanking Lara before he had been put down, courtesy of the man with the camera.

The man whom Lara had just shot - twice.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Another burst of gunfire made Lara dive back into the ditch. After landing, she began to crawl towards the man whom she had shot. A flood of emotions fought their way to the surface, but were stopped short. Lara was well aware of the risks that went along with the chances she took. She often ran the risk of getting killed or killing others, and if she had any sort of problem with those possibilities, then she could very well have stayed home.

This cameraman had to have known the risks as well, or else he would be in a nice, safe studio taping an infomercial. Friendly fire is a risk that is present in all combat situations, and if this video person was not aware of that, then he was not going to survive anyway.

There were those in Lara's life who thought her attitudes on the subject rather harsh, but then, they were staying at home, weren't they...

Lara was almost to the man's prone form when another noise caught her attention. The remaining HUMVEE, directly behind the wreckage of the ten wheeler, started it's engine, and starter to crawl around the burning truck.

The rebel that was manning the M60 in the other truck turned the weapon to bear on the fleeing vehicle - just as something flew through the air and landed next to the gunner. He had only a moment to look down at the grenade before it went off, throwing pieces of his body into the air.

As the flash of the explosion faded into secondary fires, Lara caught a glimpse of Elder's trademark blond hair through the back window. Lara's guns came to bear on the truck and she fired. The alternating muzzle flashes lit up her face and betrayed her emotions of the moment.

Then her pistols locked back empty. Her thumbs hit the magazine ejector switches - her left weapon modified so that it could be used exclusively by that hand.

By the time new magazines were inserted and rounds chambered, the HUMVEE was well out of range of her pistols. A moment's regret surfaced when she remembered the BAR and the added penetration it offered. Had she equipped it, then she might have been able to stop the fleeing truck.

The HUMVEE was soon around the next bend and out of sight. Lara had no way to pursue the vehicle - the others that remained would take a great deal of time to get operational - time that Lara did not have.

The dwindling crackles of gunfire told Lara that this little skirmish was about over, and those government troops that did not flee in the HUMVEE were not in a good position.

A semi-conscious moan from her left reminded Lara of the cameraman lying in the ditch. Moving over to him, she was somewhat relieved that he was alive - as dead men rarely moaned.

Finally getting a close look at the man, Lara concluded in a moment that he was not a member of the rebel force that started the attack. His outfit was much different, a hodge-podge of different military and outdoors equipment.

On his head rested a faded baseball cap that had seen more than its share of use. His pistol, one of the full frame Glock variants, was still clutched in a gloved hand. The man wore spectacles, but one of the lenses was blacked out and a wire led out of it and into his vest that may have once been a tactical ops garment...

A bullet proof garment.

Due to the rain and the dark coloring of the vest, Lara could not determine if the man was bleeding. Often, these "bullet proof" items were used to stop shrapnel and to "reduce ballistic penetration." While there were certainly more powerful weapons than Lara's Brownings, they did have a decent amount of stopping power.

Lara tentatively stuck her finger into one of the holes and a burning sensation immediately made her pull it back out.

A trauma plate.

As Lara was snatching her hand back, it was grabbed by another - the cameraman's left. Lara, reacting on instinct, threw a left jab at the prone man which served to loosen his grip on her digit and bring him to a higher state of consciousness.

"...What the hell?" he mumbled, left hand now rubbing his injured jaw.

"Just relax, you're all right," Lara tried to comfort the man. While his vest stopped her bullets, he still could be suffering from internal bleeding or any number of other problems - best not to move him and risk making things worse.

The problem was, the man did not want to be comforted. He began frantically working with the closures on his vest as he spoke.

"You shot me," he accused, "I oughta' sue your ass!"

"You'd best think twice before drawing down on someone without any warning."

"And you hit me, too!"

"I don't appreciate being grabbed."

"Oh, get over yourself - It was reflex, not a cheap feel."

With a sigh the man finally freed the trauma plate from his vest. The steep plate had two half-inch depressions from Lara's 9 mm rounds. He offered the piece of metal to Lara.

"Souvenir?"

Lara waved it off, "Not what I came for, I'm afraid."

The man tossed it aside and began to root through the pockets of his vest.

"So, there must've been something big time up at that mine for you to..."

His voice trailed off as he removed his hand from one of the vest pockets. He held what once was a digital video tape, but now was more akin to spaghetti.

"Do you have any idea what was on this?"

"Not your niece's birthday, I take it."

The man was about to reply, but was stopped as he took his hand from the other pocket. Lara's slug had torn an ugly hole in a cigarette case. As they looked on, tobacco and pieces of paper flowed from either side. The man opened the case, took the thing that most resembled a cigarette, and put it to his lips. Almost immediately, the rain reduced it to nothing but filter.

"Goddammit, that's it," the man said as he tried to get up.

"Tell you what. I'll buy you a whole carton of fags as soon as I am able, will that be all right?"

The man just looked at her.

"You don't smoke."

"No."

"Wasn't a question."

With his last statement, the man rose to his feet, though a little shaky. Lara saw that there was nothing more that she could do for this rather rude little man.

"Then I guess I'll be off..."

"Where in the hell are you going?"

"I seriously doubt that's any of your business."

"Okay, it's not. But if our government friends keep to form, then this area is going to be saturated with gunships in about ten minutes - I doubt that is enough time for even you to get one of those HUMMERs working."

"I don't need them to get out of here."

"Look, I know who and what you are, okay? I know that you could walk into this jungle and emerge in San Jose just fine in a week. I'm just offering to get you there tonight. My shoot's done, I'm heading home tomorrow."

"...and in return?"

"...and in return, you sign a waiver so that I can sell the footage of you in action - maybe make up for this."

He held up the remains of the tape.

"Who are you?" Lara asked.

"Where are my manners, Max Reynolds."

He offered his hand, Lara gave a little wave from where she stood.

"Lara Croft."

"Don't I know. So, we have a deal?"

All things being equal, Lara would have never taken a ride from such a creature. But, she and Elder were in a race against time, a race that Lara was losing. Also, she felt a small degree of responsibility for the loss of Max's footage, though she guessed it was merely more shooting and explosions that would soon appear on CNN. Lastly, she was somewhat fascinated by Max. Lara was often fawned over and coveted by people, or they were trying to kill her; this Max character was very different, and part of her - a very, very small part of her - was a little curious.

"Agreed. You deliver across the border and to San Jose intact, and I'll sign your little waiver."

"Great, just hold on a minute."

Max ran over to the group of rebels and spoke in Spanish with their leader for a few minutes. Soon, Max produced an envelope from his vest and handed it to the leader - a payoff.

Lara passed the time by remembering her earlier regret and equipping the BAR from the, now deceased, Government soldier.

The weapon's worn wooden stock felt warm to the touch. It had been the American's compromise for a light machine gun in the Great War, but it had not been employed by professional militia since the nineteen sixties - proof that even "obsolete" weapons could still be very effective. She was aware of the weapon, but this was the first time she had (or ever expected to) hold one. It was long and heavy, but the weight was somehow reassuring as she shouldered the rifle and sited down the scope.

She paused for a moment, trying to think of the reason that someone had mounted a telescopic lens to such a weapon, but if it's former owner's performance with the rifle had been any indication, the scope would stay.

Lara hadn't survived this long by taking chances.

Max had finished conversing with the rebels and joined her again.

"They intercepted a transmission that government gunships are on the way with orders to toast the area. My car is about..."

Max activated a display on his right forearm.

"...nine point six miles south-southwest of here."

"We're driving?"

"Yeah. The jungle may be crawling with troops, so we're gonna take it quick and quiet, okay?"

Lara was not accustomed to taking orders, but before she knew what she was doing, her head nodded in agreement.

"Great, that's my girl."

Max never saw the look on Lara's face for his most recent comment, he just headed into the jungle with Lara following.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Lara was amazed at the speed and grace with which Max moved. Even carrying a camera and probably forty more kilos of equipment, his pace was faster than Lara would have chosen for herself.

His movements were graceful, not that of a soldier. There was no question in Lara's mind that he had received some military training (though was never taught to shout "Behind You!") but Lara was certain that he had never been in the military. The hair was too long, the beard was not groomed with any discipline or order - and his "uniform" appeared to grow out of necessity rather than a book of regulations.

After a while, Max slowed to a cautious walk and surveyed the area with his camera. He motioned Lara to come closer and spoke in a very quiet whisper.

"We've got contact about two hundred yards ahead - looks like a full platoon - heading at a north-easterly direction. Probably going after my old buddies back there. We're gonna behind and past - unless you really wanna give your new toy a try..."

Lara shook her head. Max guessed her next question.

"I've got a infra-red lens on this thing, great for night stuff, and looks a helluva lot better than all that green crap, and it doesn't pick up normal light so you can't get blinded - also great in the fog."

Lara could see no viewfinder or monitor on his camera gear.

"How do you see?"

"I've got a miniature LCD built into my glasses, so that I can control the camera and see everything else - and not give my position away."

"Very good."

"Takes a while to get used to - you get one eye lookin' ya, the other eye...don't know where the hell it's lookin'."

They gave the troops a wide berth and half an hour later were at their destination.

It was a dirt road, not the asphalt from earlier. The rain that had been falling all night had turned the passage into a mud river. The two were careful, but each got caught up in the mud as they walked the hundred-or-so meters to a car shaped lump.

"Is that it?"

"Yeah," Max grabbed the camouflage webbing that covered the car and yanked it off, "Ta-da!"

Lara expected to be greeted by a mean looking Sport Utility, or some other off-road vehicle, something that would be capable of getting them out of the bog in which they stood. She was completely floored when she saw the small estate - or station wagon, as the Yanks called it.

She had a vision of submerging into the mud in Max's tiny little Subaru...

The only items on the Impreza that distinguished it from any other auto on the road were a set of four auxiliary light on the front and luggage box on the roof rack.

Max looked at the car like a father at a son. "What do you think, looks like a complete POS commuter ride, right?"

"We can't get out of here in...that."

"Trust me..." Max ordered with a strange grin on his face - then stared at her, as though expecting something.

"Trust must be earned, and you are not doing very well so far."

Max smiled again, again seeming to want a proper reaction, one that Lara do not know, not care to give if she did.

"Hell, figure you'd have to have seen _Raiders_..." he replied as he folded the webbing.

"There are those who consider me a raider, but other than that, I don't have the faintest."

"Forget it, just get in the damn car, we'll be fine."

Max de-activated the alarm and opened the back hatch. His camera fit perfectly into a holster assembly, lights confirmed that the batteries were charging. Closing the door, Max moved to the front and beckoned Lara to do the same on her side.

Upon opening the door, Lara was confronted by an odd odor and a confusing array of wires and monitors all over the dash. The seat before her was reclined all the way and a pillow and blanket rested on it.

Max, who was already in the driver's seat, reached over and threw the bedding to the back. Lara pulled a lever on the seat to return it to a normal seating posture.

"Sorry, I wasn't expecting company."

Lara took her seat.

"You live here?"

"Naw, I just sleep here when I on location and too far away from the hotel. I've got a room in San Jose. 'Guess this is my home away from home away from home."

Lara then noticed that Max was encased in a racing seat, with H-type harness system holding him in place.

"I don't get a safety seat too?."

"Yeah, this thing doesn't recline and I can't sleep sitting up - did I mention that I wasn't expecting company?"

With that he dug into a side pouch in the door and produced a pack of cigarettes. With a lighter in the other hand, he very methodically smacked the pack against it twelve times on each side before opening the pack and removing one of the cigarettes - struggling somewhat as he removed the plastic with his gloved hands.

He lit it like a desperate man clinging to a ledge, inhaled deeply, and exhaled smoke with a great sigh.

Lara then placed the smell that dwelled in the car. An entire tobacco field had literally been smoked in it. While she was thankful for the ride, the odor was actually making her a bit queasy.

Max offered her the pack, and she politely refused.

"Never too late to start," he lectured.

Lara began to regret not walking home...

Max, cigarette between his lips, shut his door and inserted his key. Lara closed her door and readied herself for departure as monitors and lights sprang to life all about here. It looked as if a small country could be run from this little car - or this man had just seen a few too many science fiction movies. Max started the engine. It chugged a little, straining, and then finally turned over.

Max pressed the clutch and moved the gear-shift into first, revved the engine, and the dropped the clutch.

The buzz of the anemic little four cylinder was quickly replaced by the whine of a turbocharger, and the increased acceleration that went along with it. Lara was unprepared for all four of the cars wheels to be spitting mud as tires fought for grip. In moments, they we moving down the mud path at a decent speed.

"Perhaps I misspoke" Lara conceded as she instinctively reached for the passenger assist handle on the ceiling.

"Thanks. Did most of the work myself."

Lara refrained from comment as they accelerated towards a very tight corner and Max was showing no signs of backing off of the throttle. As they got closer, Max did start to apply the brakes, and then turned the wheel in the OPPOSITE direction of the turn. 

Lara looked over to Max to see what he had in mind, and saw a large smile on his face, she was about to say something when Max racked the steering wheel back and hit the brakes hard, resulting in the rear end breaking loose and whipping around, carrying the car through the turn sideways and at a much higher rate of speed than would normally have been possible.

Lara was just beginning to think positively of her decision to come with Max when she noticed the two HUMVEEs that created an impromptu road block several hundred meters down the road.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Max de-activated his lights and brought the Subaru to a halt in short order. There was a moment of silence.

"Did they see us?" Lara whispered.

"They had to..." Max whispered back, " and that's the only way out of here - they've got us..."

Suddenly, a small light started to strobe by the HUMVEEs. Max threw the wagon into reverse as the tracers started coming in. The shots went wide as the gunners got their bearings. 

Max again mashed the brake pedal and cut the wheel, but this time it brought the front end of the car around. Without coming to a complete stop, Max was already in gear and heading back around the curve and out of sight of the trucks and their guns.

As soon as they were back on straight road, Max hit a switch on the dash.

"Always wanted to try this out..."

Max slowed the car, but no brake lights came on. He then backed it into small space in the jungle and stopped.

"C'mon guys, give chase..."

As if in answer to his plea, one of the HUMVEEs came roaring by. If they had spotted the Impreza, they did not indicate it as they sped past and continued off into the night.

"...and your buddy..."

This time, there was no response, only a dark, quiet road.

"It seems as if his 'buddy' is standing watch back there," Lara interjected.

"Really?" Max dripped with sarcasm.

"How do you suggest we get by the other one?"

"I dunno, we could try an end run, but even with speed on our side, the road is just too long and straight, the gunners would line up and turn us into dog food - or maybe not."

"You mean to tell me that with all of the toys that you surround yourself with, you have no offensive weapons?"

"Sure, I just don't have any of them with me - I sure wasn't expecting that kind of company..." Max trailed off as he looked down at Lara's leg with wide eyes. She was about to hit him when she realized what he was thinking...

* * *

The headlights of the HUMVEE illuminated much of the road ahead - there was no way that the little car was going to sneak up on them. Not that it really mattered, the other truck was sure to get the kill - their job was just to keep the road blocked - how hard could that be?

The gunner kept his eyes trained on the road, waiting for any sign. For a moment, he thought he say some flashes, he tensed up and swung his M-60 into position - his eyes must have been playing tricks...

Just as he heard the first of the shots, the driver's side headlight exploded, the passenger's soon followed, plunging the area into darkness. Eyes straining to adjust, the gunner readied himself for an another attack.

It came, but not in the way he might have thought.

There was an explosion of light as Max kicked on the auxiliary lamps on the front of his car. With everyone in the HUMVEE straining to see into the distance, all were instantly blinded and instinctively raised hands to block the light.

The little wagon launched towards the truck, but it looked different this time. Lara Croft, her torso out of the sunroof, took aim on the truck with her new BAR and opened up on it.

Short bursts of controlled fire hit the HUMVEE. Most of them were concentrated in the area of the machine gun, but others found their way to the windshield.

As they approached the truck, Lara's weapon clicked empty. Figuring that she would find more ammunition for the rifle later, Lara placed it on the seat below her and drew her pistols and let loose on the truck, as if to drive her point home. 

When the Impreza finally reached the HUMVEE, there was no protest, or indeed any reaction at all as it past the road block.

Lara allowed herself a smile for immobilizing the large vehicle, and dropped back to her seat.

"Good driving, I must say."

Max could only nod in her direction. He was pale and hunched over with pain, but continued to drive.

A thousand thoughts went through Lara's head - perhaps there was some return fire from the HUMVEE, or Max had been hemorrhaging from Lara's gunshots and did not know it until then. Though they had only met a few hours before, Lara was honestly concerned about her new companion.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Nuts..." was all Max could manage.

"What?"

"You...when you were up there, you were standing on my nuts..."

Lara paused for a moment, trying to understand Max's problem, but he did not give her time...

"Gonads...testes...sacks...balls...my boys...the bulldogs...my NUTS!!!"

Lara finally understood, and as she did, a broad smile crossed her face - one that she unsuccessfully tried to hide.

"Great! First you shoot me, then cold-cock me, then literally bust my balls - what's next? There are all kinds of things in the blades and piercing family that you haven't used on me yet..."

"I really am sorry..." Lara offered.

"Sorry? You wanna talk sorry? Let me jump up and down on your uterus for five minutes and then we can all be sorry together..."

Lara was wondering if Max was still joking until she looked over and saw that his smile was broader than hers.

"All right, I'll buy you two cartons."

"Two cartons?"

"Yes."

"Do you think you can buy me with cigarettes?"

"What? No."

"All right then. However, I can be rented cheap."

Lara had no return comment, and the two shared a moment of silence, the wagon's spinning turbo the only noise. Soon, the scenery became much more flat and open, and the road quality went from nonexistent to merely poor.

Lara turned to Max, intending to ask him about their arrival time, but found that he was already occupied with another task - his finger jammed up one of his nostrils. For a moment, Lara thought that this vulgar man was making a display of his nose probing for her benefit, but soon realized that he was simply acting out of impulse and necessity.

Max was really not expecting company.

Lara returned her gaze to the road and waited for some indication that Max's little quest had concluded. In a way, she was somewhat relieved when she heard the a rhythmic thumping, just a little louder than the car's engine. The noise began to get increasingly louder. Almost as soon as she began to wonder what the noise was, she remembered.

The gunships had caught up to them...


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Max maintained his previous speed and course - he was even slowing down a bit. Lara wondered for a moment if he had even heard the helo. She turned to him to tell him about it, but saw that his attention was fixed on a set of blinking lights off near the horizon.

Max not only heard the aircraft, he had already spotted it.

"Come on, I'm right here..." he taunted quietly.

From the helo came two flashes, and Max slammed the car down into third and dropped the clutch, causing the wheels to spin out even though the car was already going fifty. The sudden burst of speed carried the Impreza past the kill zone before the rockets impacted, filling the night with their fireballs.

"Suckers!" Max shouted, "any more ammo for that artillery piece there?"

Lara looked down at the BAR for a moment. "I thought I'd come across some."

"Okay then, Plan B."

"Be so kind as to tell me what Plan B is?"

"I drive really Goddamn fast and hope we can make it to some cover before they kill us?"

"Good plan, I'll cover us," Lara declared as she pushed the sunroof switch, opening it.

Lara emerged from the sunroof, this time facing backwards. As she drew her pistols, she got her first good look at her attacker. Before seeing it, she knew that it was a UH-1 Huey - nothing else sounds remotely like it.

There are many different weapon combinations that the helo could carry. Lara knew that they were carrying FFAR's - unguided high explosive rockets. If they had equipped Hellfires or other guided air-to-ground weapons, Lara would not have been around to wonder about it.

The Huey also had a least one door gunner. Lara's insight was mainly due to the tracers that were speeding towards the Subaru.

"Incoming!" Lara shouted down through the sunroof.

"Gotcha!" Max responded, sending the car sliding from one side of the road to the other.

The first burst impacted behind the wagon, and a second one getting closer as the rounds were walked towards the little car. Lara took aim with her pistols and opened fire on the Huey.

Lara knew the chances of her taking down a military prepared gunship with a pair of 9 mm handguns - there was virtually none. However, she was not earnestly trying to shoot down the helo, just distract the crew and, hopefully, knock off their aim.

After emptying both weapons at the chopper, she was rewarded with one identifiable spark as at least one of her slugs struck home. The Huey broke off and took evasive maneuvers. Lara ejected the spent magazines and inserted new ones as the Huey repositioned for another pass.

Max was aware of the situation, and saw an out - there were approaching a turn onto a small trail. It looked barely wide enough for the car, and Max had no idea where it led to, but it was covered by trees.

Max barely had the time to yell, "Hold on!" before taking the screaming right hander, causing Lara to lean more towards thedriver's side, and placing more weight on her right foot, which was firmly placed on Max's crotch - again.

The moment he started down the narrow passage, Max knew that he had made a mistake. He mashed the brakes, trying to stop the car before the low-hangning branches snapped his companion in two.

There was no chance of the car stopping in time. Lara, with no warning at all, would be cut to pieces by the pieces of wood moving at a relative forty miles per hour.

Thinking quickly, Max reaches up and grabbed for her. He hand found purchase on the large brass buckle of her pistol belt and pulled with all of his might.

She seemed to fight him for a moment, but then complied with him as some part of her realized what he was doing. She collapsed in Max's lap as gracefully as possible, just as a large tree limb removed much of the paint from the roof of the car, then ripped off the roof carrier as the car jolted to a stop...

Max was then staring into the muzzle of Lara's Browning. "Watch you fingers..." she warned.

"Wait a second! You use Mr. Bouncy as a foot-rest, twice, and then I'm the jerk for grabbing you near Happy Land so that you're head isn't ripped off."

Renewed fire from the helo interrupted any reply Lara might have offered. Max turned out the car's light and drew his sidearm.

"Got an idea. Reach into the back, the red drawer."

Lara, not pinned by a safety harness like Max, slid into the cargo area and immediately located the storage area. She opened it, and was about to ask Max what he needed so badly when she saw it...

A flare gun - this Max was certainly well prepared.

She grabbed the device and some extra flares and returned to the front seat where Max had finished unlatching himself from the harness.

"Let's have it."

Lara handed the flare pistol over and Max opened his door and got out, Lara did the same on her side. Max trained the flare gun on the fallen roof pod and waited.

"Come on numb-nuts, give it a reason..."

A few moments later, Max's wish was answered by a burst of machine gun fire that tracked randomly up the road. The burst never really came close to the Impreza, but it was close enough to the pod...

Max fired the flare gun at the pod, hoping that the helo crew would not figure out his little trick. The flare flew right at the pod, then struck it, burning for a moment.

Lara watched the flare glow in the night. "And just what is that going to accomplish?"

"Well, I sorta keep some extra gas up there - not safe to have it in the passenger compartment...just hope that one of the cans is ruptured."

"And if not?"

Max loaded another flare and was taking aim when the carrier went up. It did not explode in the classical sense. Rather, it ignited and sent a fireball and cloud into the air. The helo could still be heard, but the shooting had ceased.

"C'mon guys, we're dead as the USFL, go home and have a cold one - you've earned it."

The rotor noises of the Huey changed, they seemed to be getting quieter - or was that slower.

The helicopter was landing in a clearing a short way up the main road, several government troops dropped out and were heading towards the burning pod.

"No! you're supposed to go home!"

"They must not have heard you, why don't you yell a little louder..." Lara replied sarcastically.

"Thanks a lot, appreciate it. You must've really pissed these jerk-wads off - what'd you do?"

"Maybe they're not after me, maybe you filmed something that they don't want to see on CNN."

"This is tape, not film," Max corrected as he opened the car door and removed his camera, quickly attaching the cables to his vest and glasses, "hey, at least things are a little more even..."

"Very true. How many in their party?"

Max trained the camera towards the Huey.

"Looks like four in all. Two look like regular grunts sporting AK's - the other two look like the crew, maybe co-pilot and gunner - sidearms only."

"You deal with them and I'll make sure that bird stays put."

"Sounds like a plan."

Lara headed off into the jungle in an attempt to out-flank the Huey, thus taking the remaining crew by surprise. Max scanned the area for a moment, finding an appropriate area from which to fight, and took up position in the dark, thumbing the RECORD button on his camera.

Giving credit where due, Max had gone up against groups a whole lot dumber than these guys. It appeared that the Co-pilot(?) was in charge and was directing the others to the burning area. They had to know that cars just don't explode like Max's little gasoline trick - if it had truly worked, then these guys would be on their way home at the moment.

Drawing his Glock from his thigh holster, Max opted to take out their commander first. He was only going to get one shot with the element of surprise, then his muzzle flash would let every person in a thousand yards know where he was.

He depressed the trigger slightly, sending out an invisible beam towards the approaching soldiers. Invisible, that is, to the naked eye - not to the special infra red lens mounted on Max's camera. The beam wavelength was well above the visible spectrum - all the better for drawing a bead on the unsuspecting...

Max zoomed in on the group and deftly focused the camera, all with his right hand. The dot moved up the commander's chest to his temple and hovered there as the man got closer. Max double-checked that he was recording and pulled the trigger.

Even at the range Max fired from, the .40 caliber round did more than enough damage, also serving to disorient the subordinates as their commander's head exploded like a melon. They ducked to crouching position and began looking for Max, who could see them clearly from his vantage point.

Apparently, none of them had seen his muzzle flash - a little luck now and then never hurt. Max drew a bead on one of the AK-equipped soldiers, ready for another kill. Suddenly the rapid cracks of automatic weapons fire shattered the tense silence. Faint muzzle flashes could be seen from the direction of the Huey.

The sudden gunfire caused Max's target to jerk in that direction - just as Max opened fire. What would have been another head wound, turned into a superficial shoulder hit, and most definitely gave away Max's position.

There was more fire in the distance as Max got down on one knee, just as the other two began to fire on his position. While they had a general idea of where he was, their erratic firing pattern posed no imminent threat.

Not wanting to give them a good target, Max raised his camera into the line of fire. The "Ridiculously Expensive Periscope" trick had served him well in the past (and had also cost him some fine cameras).

Using this tactic, Max was able to see the that two of the men were continuing to fire in his general direction, while the other soldier in flight gear was fiddling with something, then finally worked it loose.

The pin of a grenade.

Max was just about to get worried when the man began to jerk about, and then fell to the ground - the victim of multiple gunshot wounds. The others in the group realized what had happened a few moments too late, and the fallen grenade silenced their guns forever.

Max, still hiding, panned the camera to the left and saw Lara brandishing an AK47 of her own. She trained the weapon on the remains of the soldiers until she was assured they were dead.

Max got to his feet and walked over to her.

"Are you all right?" Lara asked Max.

"Sure, got some great stuff - that was great the way you showed up and took out the grenade guy - pure gold."

"If you're quite finished accepting your Academy, can we be going?"

"Sure," Max replied, turning towards his car, "I hope that you picked up some ammo for that thing."

Lara replied by holding aloft a bandolier that contained at least six more magazines for the rifle.

"So I guess Murphy says that we won't see any more trouble tonight..."


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Dawn was just peeking over the horizon, finding the little station wagon parked at the side of the road. Lara still sat in the passenger seat, but Max was nowhere to be seen. Lara did not seem terribly concerned over the absence of her new companion, she was idly loading an empty magazine from a box of shells from her backpack.

The two had crossed the border ten minutes ago. Technically, they should be safe, but Lara was always one to be prudent. Placing the thirteenth round in the clip, Lara gave it small tap on the dash to line up all of the bullets. She then looked about quickly, removed the ash tray, overflowing with ash and butts, and dumped it out of the open window. She then gave the slightly cleaner air a satisfied sniff and allowed herself a small smile.

A moment later Max appeared from the nearby trees. In one hand he bore an video catalog, in the other, a distinctive roll of long, white paper. He ran to the car and took his seat, readying another cigarette.

"Ready to go?" Lara asked.

"Give me a second here...something at dinner last night was not nice to me."

"I don't believe the matter needs to be discussed."

"C'mon, you mean to tell me you never took a dump-a-roony in the woods before?"

"Whether I have or not, you can be sure that I do not make quite an 'event' of it."

"Whatever..." Max replied as he got the car back on the road. "Anyway, you got all of these bits for this guy and he turns into a spider?"

"Something like that."

"Care for a little advice?"

"Don't have a choice, do I."

"Seems like everyone who hires you, ends up trying to kill you and take what you've gotten for them."

"Does seem like that, doesn't it."

"Okay, I've got a good story for you."

"It is your turn."

"Okay, it was Christmas Eve, nineteen...ninety-three. My wife and I had been separated for a few months - she had moved out to California..."

Lara only half listened to Max after that, as a quick wave of emotion swept over her at Max mentioning a wife. This feeling took Lara completely by surprise. There was not a part of her that was even remotely attracted to this vulgar man. More likely, she was astonished that someone would actually marry him...

...and he did say that he was separated.

"...and there I was, trying to signal for help, terrorists all around, with no shoes on! I tried to pull the fire alarm..."

Lara looked to him as he stopped telling the story.

"What?"

"It's a joke - didn't you even see _Die Hard_?"

"Afraid I'm not a big cinema buff."

"Okay, I was just telling you the plot of a movie - it was a joke."

"Oh. No real stories to tell?"

She jibed him out of a sense of relief - so he was not married after all...

But why should that matter to her?

"Sure..." he trailed off, "but you don't want to hear them..."

"So sure?"

"Sure that any respect you have for me as a person, driver, or road trip companion will go right out the window."

"Now I am intrigued..."

"So, what were you looking for up at the mine?"

"Something old."

"Touché," he replied, "care to be any more specific?"

"Maybe..." She said in a coy manner.

Max threw what was left of his current cigarette out the window, and pressed the button to cycle it closed. The car suddenly became very quiet.

"Tell ya what, you fill me in on your current quest and I don't light up for the whole time you're tellin' it."

"No fags 'till we get to San Jose."

"You drive a hard bargain - but okay."

"All right. I was tasked with finding the parts to an ancient device - one that supposedly would lead its owner to a doorway to heaven."

"So you're not going after the Holy Grail..."

"Already found it. It's on my mantle."

"Really?"

"No, I haven't gotten round to finding that one yet."

"Honey, there's only room in this car for one wise-ass, and your lookin' in its direction."

"You'll get little argument from me..."

"Good. So, this little doo-dad...let me guess, the pieces are scattered all over the globe."

"You've done this kind of work before?"

"No, just an admirer."

"I see my reputation precedes me."

"Don't let it go to your head. I just kept an eye out for you because...I thought that we might have a little something in common...."

A that comment Lara actually laughed - the very thought of that vulgar combat Paparazzi...

For the briefest of moments, Max actually looked hurt. Realizing that his face was betraying his feelings, he quickly turned his head to the road - where it should have been in the first place.

"So, I take it that you missed the piece up in the mines - how old a thing are we talkin'?"

"The first piece has been carbon dated as being three thousand years old."

"That would pre-date both the Incan and Mayan cultures - at least, before they organized into anything worth while..."

"Good guess, pick that up on Final Jeopardy last week?"

"Maybe it's just me, but I think that you should give the sarcasm thing a rest - you're not very good at it."

"And I suppose you are?"

"I wrote the book, babe."

Lara's hand moved with blinding speed towards Max's face. When it arrived, there was nothing there to slap, save for the lip of the racing seat - which collided painfully with her wrist.

Max smiled at her as she rubbed wounded limb.

"Too slow..."

Lara reeled back to strike at him again, but never got the chance because the Subaru was soon careening to the other side of the road, and then back again. While this evasive maneuver was happening, Max repeated in a high-pitched voice, "Don't mess with the driver!"

After a few seconds, Lara stopped trying to hit Max and vowed to get revenge later. In response, Max stopped yelling and brought the car back to its previous course and speed.

"Anyway," Max tried to liven up the mood with a mock-aristocratic accent, "I believe, Miss Croft, the we were speaking of the artifact and its origins..."

"Yes. Accounts state that there are five pieces of this device. The first piece was located in at a dig in Giza in the nineteen twenties. It was this piece that gave the clues to the others."

"Why wait this long to investigate?"

"That's one of the peculiar points here - after begin found, nineteen twenty-three is my closest estimate, this piece disappeared again for seventy years."

"Where did it go?"

"If I knew that, then there wouldn't be so much mystery."

"Point taken. Go on."

It was at this moment that it dawned on Lara that Max was taking their conversation very seriously - even more so than she. Why was Lara behaving in such a manner?

Even she had no answers to that question.

"So, the first piece showed up at a pawn shop in Denver - I believe that is your 'home turf.'"

"A little west of my area, but I live a lot closer to there than you do..."

"It was purchased for the sum of twenty-five dollars by a research assistant at the University of Colorado - intended as a joke to play on one of the professors. As a result, the item was carbon dated and its age discovered. I was contacted merely for help in deciphering the characters on the item, but then others learned of its existence and the item was stolen."

"The super-blonde in the HUMMER?"

"Exactly. This is not the first confrontation that Elder and I have had with one another. She stole the first piece, and all of my translation notes."

"And those your translation led you to the mines here?"

"Actually no, each piece has clues to the location of two others. I believe that all five were to be placed next to each other, and each piece has information about the two that border it. I was successful in Scandinavia, but not so in Germany."

"So...you originally get your hands on One in Colorado. One tells you where Two and Three are. You grab Two in Scandinavia, which tells you where Five is, and where One is - but you already got that one. Then, Elder beats you to Three, which leads the both of you here to Four. How did you know it was here if Elder got Three?"

"I stowed away on her ship a week ago."

"Cool."

"Yes...cool. I do need to make a call when we reach San Jose, I don't seem to have any money on me at the moment, I'll have to make some arrangements."

"No problem. So, you just hopped on a ship and crossed the Atlantic..."

"A little like your ancestors, yes?"

"Sure, just like Great Uncle Steve..."


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

As the city of San Jose approached them, Max noticed a new problem - they were nearly out of gas. Luckily, there was a station at the side of the road, and they pulled off to re-fuel.

As Max was pumping, Lara approached.

"I'm sorry...I don't wish to be a bother, but could I possibly borrow a little - I'm thirsty."

"Sure, grab whatever you want, the guy inside has my card."

Lara wandered into the store and soon emerged with a sack of items, and took her seat.

When Max went inside to sign the receipt, his bill was almost double the price of the gasoline - he hoped Lara enjoyed whatever she had gotten.

* * *

Soon, they were back on the road, Lara raised the bottle of Scotch to her lips and drank deeply, swallowing without the slightest hint of discomfort. She was about to offer the bottle to Max when she caught his gaze...

He was staring at her with eyes that might have devoured her, it was desire, plain and simple and oh-so powerful. His expression immediately changed and he returned to his normal half-smile.

"Good stuff?"

Lara was now somewhat uncomfortable with him. While she was certainly no stranger to the desires of men, she thought that this was not something that she and Max would have to go through. In fact, she very must respected the fact that he had not tried anything with her - even his eyes remained trained on hers when he spoke to her, never wandering downwards. Knowing that there was some kind of libido inside of this man cheapened him - not that he had all that too far left to go in the realm of cheapness.

She decided to pass his "transgression" off as him simply being a male - something that she had learned to deal with long ago...

"Not bad, care for a wee nip?"

Almost as she was saying the words, she realized that they were not the wisest choice she could have made at that moment, but Max did not seem to notice, his manner did not change as he replied.

"I wouldn't touch that rot-gut in a million years..."

"This was the best they had."

"I know, I saw the bill..."

"I'm good for it, you little Scrooge."

"Sure, I turn my back for a second in San Jose, and you'll be half way to Tijuana."

They both chuckled, more out of relief of tension than of Max's joke.

* * *

The lobby of the San Jose Best Western was fairly quiet on this particular Tuesday morning - but not too quiet that two people who had been in the jungle for a little too long would have gone unnoticed.

Almost immediately, the Concierge tried to talk them out of entering, but after establishing that Max was a guest, they were encouraged to use the freight entrance in the rear. Max offered the use of the phone in his room, and the two made their way up the back stair well.

Max showered while Lara made several maddening attempts to contact someone in England, but the time of night there made reaching someone who could authorize the wiring of funds to her difficult. She finally opted to leave a message with her bank for them to contact her at the hotel as soon as possible - before she found another place to keep her sizable savings.

With that issue unresolved, and her companion still washing the jungle off of himself, Lara set about taking in his room. 

Max's choice of accommodations seemed to value economy and privacy over elegance. The bed was neatly made - astonishing, considering that the "Do Not Disturb" sign was on the door as they arrived - could this man be a closeted neat freak? Max's clothes were all neatly hung in the closet, a little bit of the same military regalia he was wearing in the field and a good number of loud island shirts. Lara was amused at the collection of shirts that were stored in the closet - this man must constantly resemble the cliched American tourist - especially considering his camera. Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror, green leotard, khaki shorts and aging canvas pack; she decided to allow Max his little fashion rut to avoid the pangs of hypocrisy.

The other half of the room was dominated by a series of monitors, video decks and a laptop - this must be where this man cuts together his little clips of death. Of course, the ash tray next to the computer was overflowing with cigarette butts.

The sound of running water ceased, grabbing Lara's attention. A few moments later, Max appeared in a robe, and hurriedly started grabbing clothing out of the closet.

"Shower's free - if you want."

"Afraid I have nothing to wear."

"Raid my closet - my stuff might be a little big on you, but I think that anything beats a weeks worth of sweat and crap all over you."

"I think I'll be all right."

"I'm more worried about me - you are a little ripe."

"Really?"

"Well, by a 'little ripe.' I mean that I can smell you over here, and it's not all that great. So, either take a shower here, or go and get your own room."

"I can't get a hold of my bank."

"Damn, I'd think, with a high-profile customer like you, they'd be jumping hoops just to take care of you."

"I suppose not."

"Just go ahead and clean up here. Hey, if I was pulling something underhanded, I would have done it long before now..."

He did have a point, and Lara had been dreaming of cleaning up for several days now.

"All right," Lara conceded, heading into the bathroom, "I may be a little while."

"There should be plenty of the hotel soap and junk in there, I bring my own toiletries."

"Thank you."

Lara moved into the bathroom, making sure to secure the door. She quickly stripped off her clothing, noticing that she had acquired some fresh tan lines from her recent adventures - no worry though.

She stepped into the shower and began to take the first layers of dirt and sweat that she had acquired over the past week, completely unmindful of Max's shaving kit that lay on a shelf above the towel rack. Even staring right at the small bag, she probably would not have noticed the small hole in it, much less the lens that rested inside.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

As Lara dried herself off, she remembered the look that Max had given her in the car - and part of her liked it very much.

While Lara was no stranger to people yearning for her, it was usually the moment they saw her - not several hours and several possible opportunities later did they even attempt something.

But then Max didn't try anything, did he?

A knock on the door broke her train of thought. "Yes?" she answered.

"It's me," Max replied, "picked you out a hell of an ensemble, are you decent?"

A devilish smile crossed her face and an impulse rose up from deep inside of her. Normally, such an impulse would never reach the controlled surface of Lara Croft, but this was not a normal situation. Part of her thought it would be a splendid joke on Max, and another part of her hoped that he would not find it funny in the least.

She unlocked the door.

"Yes."

Max opened the door to find Lara facing him full in the nude. He barely had a moment to see her before flinching and placing one of the towels in front of his face.

"Jesus! I'm sorry, here you go."

He offered the contents of his hands to Lara.

"You and you're European sensibility - when I ask if you are decent, that means 'are you covered up?'"

"I know very well what it means."

Lara took Max's offerings and found that his head was now behind the door, which he slowly closed. As his right hand moved to ease it shut, Lara noticed something that she had not seen due to the gloves that Max had been wearing since their meeting.

A wedding ring.

Several minutes later, Lara stepped from the room wearing one of Max's loud shirts, a pair of his long khaki slacks, and a dour expression that was all her own. Embarrassment was an emotion that Lara Croft dealt with about as often as she dealt with rejection. No longer having these feelings was a cost/benefit of her life as the Tomb Raider, and there was not much she could do to prepare herself for the awkwardness that was to follow.

Max was seated in front of his editing station, holding the receiver of the hotel's phone with his shoulder as he worked the equipment and smoked. Lara had entered in the mid-sentence.

"...the rest of it, yeah. Sure, put her on...I love you too." As speakers were exchanged on the other end of the live, Max's voice raised in pitch, as though he were speaking to a young child. "Heya, what's going on? Well, kick her in the head...no, I'm only kidding..." 

He nodded in her direction , but did not look at her for fear that she was still naked.

So - married _and_ children...homewrecker.

"I am going to be there, don't you worry - I wouldn't miss it for all the beer in Milwauke...right. Okay, you have fun, and kiss your Mom, Aggie, Stinky and Danger for me, and I'll see you all soon...b-bye"

Max replaced the receiver and slowly glanced in her direction. Lara started to say something, but the words were not there for her. Max seemed to know, and offered to let them both down easily.

"I've got that release for you to sign..."

"Let's have it."

Max passes a clip board over to Lara and she signed at the bottom without really reading the document, then handed it back to Max, who then offered her an American dollar bill.

"What's this?"

"Compensation for using your image, kind of a formality, but..."

"Thank you."

Lara looked at the monitor and saw, not a combat situation, but a peasant father and child. It seemed that the father was trying to teach his son how to dance, not having a great deal of success.

"What is this?" she asked.

"I managed to save some footage from the tape you shot."

"You shot that?"

"You know anyone else in that jungle with a DV camera?"

"It's very good, actually."

"Thanks, to bad it won't make the cut - old habits die hard."

"And what habits are those?"

"Shooting stuff that I can't sell..."

Then they both just looked at the screen, the young boy continually stepping on his father's feet. Without looking at her, Max said to Lara.

"In the bathroom, did what I thought happen, just happen?"

"Yes."

"You know, I'm married."

"And have a child, an Aggie, a Danger and...a Stinky. I realized that a moment too late. I wish you had removed your gloves a bit sooner."

"Dammit."

"What?"

"See, I can't even brag about this, 'cause no one will believe it. Just add that footage to the 'too real for real' reel."

"The what?"

"Oh, I have this little collection of footage that is just a little too much. Things that no one would believe, even if they saw it."

"I've seen some pretty unbelievable things..."

"I bet. You getting hungry?"

"Famished, actually."

"Wanna grab a bite?"

"I would love to."

Max grabbed a brown leather satchel and the two wandered down to the lobby (taking the elevator this time) and into the hotel's main restaurant. They had missed the brunch crowd and were early for lunch, so the room was quite empty, save for a few groups talking amongst themselves.

Unfortunately, the hostess stand was also vacant. As Lara and Max were debating hijacking one of the tables, an obviously American family rose and started to exit. Among the party were two young boys, one a litter younger than ten, the other a little older. Upon seeing Lara and Max at the hostess stand, they stopped and whispered to each other.

Lara had seen this prelude before. The young boys would run up and fawn over her, telling her how they loved her books and the series of video games that had been loosely based on her adventures. There was a time in her life that she actually enjoyed such displays - that time had passed.

The two boys tried to casually approach, gathering their courage, and then the younger one spoke.

"...Max Reynolds?"

"Yeah?"

Both of the boys produced napkins from the table they were sitting at. The older boy spoke next.

"I...we were wondering...could we...get your autograph?"

Lara was dumbstruck - who was this man?

Max returned their awkwardness with a warm, artificial smile and produced a pen from his breast pocket.

"Sure thing, what are your names?"

The older boy looked at Max as though he had said nothing, the younger boy took his cue.

"I'm Taylor, this is my brother, Zack."

"Taylor and Zack, okay..."

Lara was actually beginning to miss being fawned over as Max began writing on the napkins and the boys' mother backtracked to find her sons.

"Zachary, Taylor Dean, we do not speak to strangers."

"But mom this is the guy from the video!"

Their mother, who was pushing forty but wanted the rest of the world to think differently, looked Max up and down, trying to recognize the celebrity before her.

"I'm sorry they bothered you. Boys, let's go."

But the two were already re-enacting some past adventure of Max Reynolds, miming a camera in one hand, finger-pistol in the other. They began to blast away at imaginary bad guys. Upon that display, their Mother seemed to realize something.

"You are that man?"

"Guilty as charged," Max replied, still keeping up his publicity face.

"You sir, are what's wrong with this world. I bought them that horrible tape, and finally had to throw it away. You are a terrible, terrible man. Boys, now!"

She beckoned to her children, and they grudgingly followed her - whining and heads lowered all the way.

"Fans of yours?"

Lara spoke before she looked at her new friend. The tops of his ears were actually turning red with rage - another new side of Max Reynolds that she had not expected.

"You know what really pisses me off more than anything?"

"No."

"If had cold-cocked that bitch, I would be the jerk. If I tried to defend my work to her, I would be the jerk. As it stands now, I am the jerk - kinda no-win, isn't it?"

Lara searched herself for something consoling to say to Max, but there was nothing. She did not have enough information to piece together anything reassuring - she really knew very little about the man standing before her. At that moment she recalled his words in the car about her losing all respect for him if she knew what he did - was it just video tapes, or were the tapes more than she thought?

A hostess appeared from the kitchen, and soon the two were seated in the "smoking" section. They were barely seated when their waitress appeared.

"Can I get you two started off with anything to drink?"

"Scotch, please, single malt - neat," Lara ordered.

"Whatever diet cola you have..."

Lara shot Max a surprised look.

"Please, have a drink with me," she plunked her dollar bill down on the table, "my treat."

"Thanks, but I'll stick with the diet."

"Great, I'll give you a few moments to decide," the server replied.

Lara raised an eyebrow, "too good to drink with me?"

"Naw, nothing like that,"

"Then please, on the odd occasion that I have some spirits, I hate to do it alone."

"I'm gonna have to pass..."

"Max, what is it?"

"That's the first time you said my name - your accent makes it sound cool."

"You're evading..."

"Sorry. The old Maxi-Pad here...he's a alcoholic.'

"I'm sorry."

"Damn you Lara Croft - it's your 'odd occasion' of spirits that made me into the monster I am - arrrgh!"

Max contorted his face into that of a menacing demon - or a reasonable facsimile there of.

"I didn't mean that...I'm sorry that I pushed the issue..."

"Apology accepted, but I'll tell you what, in my seven years of sobriety, not knocking back a few with you was one of the hardest decision I've ever made."

The waitress then set down Lara's drink. Lara glanced briefly at the drink and then at Max, who was staring at the glass with the same intensity that he was looking at Lara earlier in the car - and then it all made sense.

Max wanted her booze, not her.

"I've had a change of heart, I think I'll have a diet as well."

"No," Max protested, "'I'll be just fine. Enjoy."

To the server's delight, Lara kept her drink and began to sip at it, Max did likewise.

"So," began, trying to divert Max's attention from her glass, "how is it that you are so well versed in Central American history?"

"I did my master's thesis on the long-term significance of the fall of Tenoxtitian."

"Really..."

"Thought I was some under-educated film-geek?"

"Well, no..."

"It's cool, really. I have little use for Academia, and they have even less use for me."

"I understand."

"I thought you might."

"Where did you study?"

"Aw hell, under grad work at OSU...then Masters of Cultural Anthropology from U of Chicago, then Doctorate work at USC."

"I'm not very familiar with their program out there..."

"Neither am I, my doctorate is in motion picture history and theory."

"Ah, with the camera..."

"Exactly. You really need to be well versed in a century of film production to follow around 'freedom fighters' and grab the action shots."

"May I ask..."

"Why I do this and am not teaching a class somewhere, or making Schwarzenegger's next movie, or, better yet, making documentaries about long-lost cultures?"

"Something like that..."

"I know this is bizarre, but my life didn't turn out the way I'd planned it. All those degrees don't mean squat when you're wife tells you that the family is about to get larger by fifty percent and you aren't making the kind of money that it takes to start a family. So, you do what you have to, and I'm doing this now..."

Lara could tell that Max's speech was well-rehearsed, she wondered how often he used it.

"Not your ideal occupation then."

"Hey, life sucks, get a helmet."

"Interesting philosophy."

"Yeah - stole it from Dennis Leary."

"Who?"

"Never mind."

Their conversation continued for several hours. They spoke of ancient civilizations, modern adventures, and life in general. As they spoke, Lara began to see that this man before her was indeed a kindred spirit in more ways than she could count. She found herself telling things to this odd American that she had never told anyone before, there was something about him that made her trust him like no one she had ever met.

It was not like Lara never had a connection to another person, she often ran into people who thought as she did - in certain ways. There were those that she met in the field who understood how to fight and survive as she had learned to do, but those people often knew little else. On the other hand, back in England, she often could exchange ideas with scholars, but they just could not comprehend an honest fight for one's life, nor the thrill of an undiscovered tomb.

This man was different.

At some point in the afternoon (they had been at the table for over five hours - much to their server's chagrin) the concierge informed Lara that her transfer had been completed and she had a suite waiting for her - along with a substantial amount of cash and confirmation of a flight leaving early the next morning for London.

Realizing the hour and the fact that they had not slept for any length of time that day, the two grudgingly parted company and went to their respective rooms and slept heavily.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The following morning, Lara rose early and made her way to Max's room, a spring in her step and a carton of cigarettes in each hand. She still wore the clothing that she had borrowed from Max, hoping to do a little shopping before riding to the airport.

After repeated knocking, she 'convinced' one of the housekeeping employees to let her in. As the door opened, Lara knew Max was gone, his editing station and clothing were no where to be seen. The only indications of his stay were was stench of his cigarettes from the over-flowing ashtrays.

Lara was somewhat dejected as she was checking out, she still wanted more time with that man, she had been having fun last night - and could not remember the last time it had happened.

As if in answer to her desires, the desk clerk presented her with an envelope bearing the hotel's crest with "Laura Croft" written on the front of it. Her right eyebrow raised just a little, and then she opened the note, which read:

Laura,

Sorry to bail on you, but I've got a really long drive ahead of me - we're talkin' four days back to the land of the Buckeye. I did call to say 'good-bye' but guess you were sleeping the sleep of the dead, so I'll call this good enough.

I just wanted to say that it was a real honor meeting you - I hope I didn't piss you off too bad - I know my social skills are not the best in the universe. Enclosed is my card. If you are ever back in the States, feel free to give me a ring, or just drop me an E-mail for the hell of it - but you are under no obligation whatsoever.

Talk to you later,

Max

P.S. - You can keep the clothes - a memento.

P.P.S. - Where in the hell are my cigarettes?

Bust a deal - face the wheel! (Movie reference - don't worry about it.)

Lara stared at the note for several minutes. She was both overjoyed at receiving the note and angry at Max for leaving - but most of all she was amazed at the amount of emotion that she was feeling on the subject as a whole.

On the taxi ride to the airport, Lara looked at a map of Central America, the crazy idea of intercepting Max to give him his cigarettes (which she still carried). She followed the series of roads that led north to the United States.

Her zeal to pull off her little operation faded when she saw the mass tangle of options that presented themselves. That, with the idea that Max just might opt for the lesser traveled thoroughfares (not even present on the map), made her re-consider her plan.

There was no one seated next to her on the flight home. In fact, there were as few as five people seated in first class. Normally, the isolation would have suited Lara perfectly, but there was just something inside of her that she needed to release.

She slept fitfully on the thirteen hour journey, often dreaming of Max. There must have been five of them where she had given him his precious cigarettes.

Finally giving up on sleep and ordering up some tea, Lara took the remainder of the flight for a little reflection. She knew that it was not uncommon to dream about someone who...yes, Lara did have strong feelings for that man, that married man. No, it was not even a question of that, it was merely the coming together of kindred spirits...

...the knowledge that she was not alone in the world.

Of course, Lara was only truly alone when delving through some forgotten crypt - save for the odd thug, or tiger...or bat...or gorilla...

The point was that Lara had not realized fully her distaste for people in general until she had met someone whom she liked, and even someone who challenged her.

With an hour before her landing, Lara retired to the water closet to freshen up. The face that stared back at her did not seem to be her own. It was soft, the recollection of an era that had passed. It was a face that was full of feeling.

The Tomb Raider had no time for frivolous emotions - they only got in the way. However, Lara was feeling at that moment, and no amount of dismissing the feelings was going to make them go away... 

Vowing to deal with her state a little later, opting for a more appropriate location than the lou of a 747, she got herself together and returned to her seat.

Soon enough, the aircraft landed at Heathrow on schedule. Lara disembarked with the other passengers, but felt very strange among them. As the airline hosts and hostesses gave their plastic good-byes, Lara could barely understand them, and barely nodded her head in reply.

Entering the line for customs, Lara (whose contacts usually allowed her to simply be ushered through with untold treasures) was stopped and questioned about the cartons of cigarettes she still carried in her left hand. After the customs clerk began a lecture about tobacco being a controlled substance and Lara needing to fill out forms and pay the appropriate taxes on the importation of the tobacco products - Lara handed over the cartons and just walked away

Leaving customs and entering the terminal, Lara felt an utter stranger in a world that all knew each other. People wandered about with their significant others, friends, children, all in a common bond - one that Lara did not share. 

And they were all _staring _at her.

Then she realized that she was still wearing the shirt that Max had given her - she must look like an American tourist who had lost her way.

"Ms. Croft?"

Lara turned at the mention of her name and saw Winston, her...servant?

That wasn't the right word - he was much more than hired help, and right now he was approaching her and holding a small overnight bag. Lara returned his usual dour expression with a smile.

"Headed out to holiday?" she asked him.

"Of course not, Ms. Croft, I thought that you might want to a change of clothing after your trip, and I see that I have made the right decision. Shall I have those...things burned for you after you have changed?"

"Certainly not, I shall wear these clothes home."

"As you wish"

Winston always agreed with his employer's (that word was wrong too) wishes, but always made sure that she knew his opinion in no uncertain terms.

They made their way to the parking area, and Lara climbed behind the wheel of her Range Rover, Winston grunting his displeasure. Lara often wondered how a distinguished hero of two world wars and many other accomplishments could still be alive with all of the noise that he made.

Tabling the thought for a later date, Lara started the engine and pulled the SUV into traffic, accelerating at a mad pace. Winston grumbled a disapproving mumble that was lost to all but himself and the two were off, Lara cursing the large vehicle for not having more power.

But she had an idea of how to fix that.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Reaching her home in Surrey, Lara began her most hated ritual - getting back up to speed with her "normal" life. Luckily, she had only been gone for eight days, not enough time for too much to pile up.

After showering and changing clothes (Winston was given specific orders not to burn the loud shirt) Lara grabbed the tub of mail that awaited her examination and headed upstairs, through the music room, and into the library.

Attempting to remove a copy of Raise the Titanic caused a portion of the shelves to slide away and out, revealing a computer and a desk area (the trigger book used to be Madonna's Sex - but too many visitors discovered her secret work area).

She plopped down and wondered again why she had not hired a personal assistant. First came the sorting out of the junk mail from the important material. Luckily, Lara's desire for privacy kept her address out of the hands of fans and other who just wanted to write her some drivel, or send her a parcel that she cared not for, but not even her beloved rocket launcher could stop the advertisers for letting her know that there was a sale at an electronics store or that she had been pre-approved for a credit card (though a Visa tucked into her backpack might have helped in recent Central American adventure).

After half an hour of opening mail, returning correspondence with colleagues and writing checks - Lara started up the computer. The mellow opening music of Windows 95 was disturbed by Winston entering the room with his obligatory tea service.

He placed the service on a nearby table without comment, though the clanking of the tray and his wheezing and gurgling let Lara know his relative position since he had started up the stairs.

"Thank you," Lara offered as he poured her a cup with the requisite amount of sugar. He handed it to her as he left the room. Lara smiled - it had taken years to get him to stop asking if "there was anything else she required," but Lara had finally won out.

With Winston gone, Lara launched her internet software and logged on. She had recently upgraded her connection and the speed with which she was on was truly amazing. She quickly browsed over her E-mail, finding that most of it was more of the junk variety. She would have to ask her computer advisor how to filter out these ruthless advertisers.

After replying to a few of these messages, Lara activated her web browser and keyed in the address of Max's web sight from his card - there were a few questions that she wanted answered, and his own sight seemed as good a place as any to start.

As the connection was made, Lara was startled to see her own name in big letters as the sight was loaded in. The whole banner read "Lara Croft - in action!" 

Under the headline there was a still picture of her in mid-firing of her pistols. She recognized that as the shot that had knocked down Max just fifty hours earlier. Under the picture were pre-ordering instructions for purchase of the full video tape.

So, Max didn't sell his material to the networks, he made money from direct distribution. A quick glance over the on-line catalogue revealed over a dozen other tapes from all over the world, all dealing with some sort of combat. There were SWAT actions in the United States, in-depth coverage of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, and even the liberation of a Vietnamese prison camp by American covert operatives.

Material like this was nothing new, but Lara had always thought that the reporters were supposed to keep some king of distance, to document and not get involved, but many of the previews of the tapes depicted Max's pistol drawn and him taking part in the combat. In another area, Lara found a download entitled "The clip that started it all."

It was a large file, and was going to take several minutes to complete, so Lara did a search under Max's name and business. Lara was shocked at the result - there we almost as many sights devoted to him as there were to her. Also amazing was the variety of sights - ranging from simple fan pages made by ten-year-old boys to highly intellectual sights sighting the work of Max as one of the causes of the downfall of western society.

Many of the sights actually had links that referred to her. Clicking on one of them out of sheer curiosity brought up a doctored image of her in the nude. Even worse, it was the still that had appeared on Max's site.

Did these people work fast.

She looked over the forged form that replaced her clothing and was amused by how incorrect the work was. Lara was half tempted to accept one of the many offer she had gotten to pose in the nude just for the sake of showing these people what the real thing looked like.

But then, she got in enough trouble for the pictures that didn't reveal anything...

Lara's computer then informed her that her download was complete. She opened up the small video window and played the clip.

As the file began to play, a graphic displayed "August 21, 1993."

The image was a shaky, hand-held piece about two police officers. Once, the camera got close enough to identify them as working for the American city of Los Angeles. A quick pan of the area revealed that they were in the restroom corridor of a convenience store, and were speaking softly about the clerk on duty.

The officers were poking fun at this employee, as they felt that he took his job too seriously. As they were finishing their thought, a chime, signifying the opening of the front door, sounded. The camera panned quickly to a large convex mirror, revealing two young black men entering.

They looked around for a moment, then proceeded to draw pistols and begin to rob the store. It appeared that they had not seen the police officers, who drew their weapons as well and crept up to the front counter.

The footage then got somewhat confusing. There was yelling, then the tell-tale crackof gunfire. One of the police officers fell right into the camera, an open head wound spilling blood on the lens. As the officer hit the ground, he dropped his weapon - a revolver.

The camera then seemed to recover from the fall, then several more shots were heard, and one of the youths, bleeding from his shoulder, ran out of the front door. The camera raised over to see the other officer, applying direct pressure to his profusely bleeding knee.

From behind a rack of smokeless tobacco, the other young man appeared. He walked up to the officer with his pistol trained at the constable's head. Their eyes met for a moment - and then it happened...

The rear of a revolver entered the frame, and fired.

The first shot caught the youth in the shoulder, spinning him backwards and towards the camera. He raised the weapon with his good arm, intending to shoot Max.

He never got the chance.

There were three bullets left in the revolver that Max had taken from the dead officer, and they all found their way into the young boy's chest. The emptied revolver then _clicked_ empty six more times for good measure.

He landed in a lump against the counter, his body still in a seated position. It was obvious that he had control over nothing but his eyes - which darted back and forth and finally came to rest on the camera.

Then moved no more.

Lara had been in more than her fair share of combat situations, but this footage bothered her. Maybe it was the age of the boy, or the lack of hesitation on Max's part in dealing the final blow, or maybe she was torn over the unanswerable question of whether Max did the right thing, but Lara suddenly got a more three-dimensional picture of her new friend.

She went on to see that this footage, when aired, started a national craze. Some were happy that Max had gone out on a limb to defend this police officer, others were appalled at the state of the world that the footage represented, and it all came together on one of the popular American talk shows where the mother of the fourteen-year-old slain robber confronted Max.

As Lara watched the footage, she was amazed at how different Max looked just a few years earlier. He seemed so young and so full of pain. As was typical of the type of program, everything descended into violence and the child's mother attacked Max, who refused to defend himself against her.

"If I had cold-cocked that bitch, I would be the jerk."

Max's words replayed themselves in Lara's head as she watched a man with a cane try to defend Max. Lara realized that it was the officer whose execution Max had prevented...

...on national television.

Lara continued on through Max's bio, but there was little else that surprised her. Max was only able to get work doing more of what he had been a part of in the convenience store incident, so he was shipped off to every hot spot in the world and turned loose with whatever side he could strike a deal with.

The only thing in the remaining information that surprised Lara was information on Lands of Turpin, a documentary about a Native American Indian tribe in southern Ohio - long before Max's ancestors traversed the great ocean and settled there. Lara vowed to see his movie as soon as possible and was just about to E-mail him when...

Sitting on her desk, under a small protective glass case was the Scandinavian piece of the device. Lara had spend hours transcribing the data that was carved on the surface. It was an ancient Egyptian form of what would best be compared to latitude and longitude. It had taken her quite a while to learn the symbols, and then to place them into reference with a modern coordinate system.

Or, to put things simply - Lara was very familiar with what was written on the device, but the symbols she had studied for so long were different now.

The inscription had changed.

As Lara stared at the new symbols before her, the soft look that she had noticed on the airplane began to vanish. In it's place returned the face of the Tomb Raider.

"Winston! I'll be leaving soon, would you please pack a bag?"

There was a moment of silence, then a faint reply.

"Cold climate or warm?"

"I'll let you know in ten minutes..."

Lara closed out her internet connection and opened her translation package.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

It was over sixteen days before Lara was to enter her library again. When she did finally ascend the music room steps she was limping noticeably, wore her right arm in a sling, and carried her backpack with her left. She was wearing a comfortable, yet frumpy, set of sweat clothes which did little to hide the ugly bruise that spread from her right shoulder up to her ear.

Pulling the book to open her desk area, Lara sat with a grunt and eased her backpack off onto the surface. She was as careful as she could be with one hand, but soon placed the glass case from her knapsack next to its twin on the desk. Inside of the cases rested similar stone artifacts - the only difference being the markings on the sides and variations in the coloring. 

Lara grinned slightly as she examined the piece that she should have gotten in Germany, snatched from Elder's henchpersons - but at a price.

A lucky shot on the part of one particularly unthreatening looking thug had shattered Lara's shoulder. She was not going to be doing any field work for a month at least. In addition to the bullet wound, a Doberman had taken a chunk out of her thigh. The wound was dressed at the moment, but the plastic surgeon swore that it would be almost impossible to notice once it had healed - and only minimal numbness due to nerve damage.

Compared to her current feeling of discomfort "minimal numbness" sounded like a dream to her. Of course, the doctors had given her pain medication, but she was not ready for that quite yet - she had some work to do first, and she needed all of her mind with her.

After Windows had finished booting, Lara opened her translation suite and carefully removed her new piece from its container and opened a side drawer of her desk, one that had a scanner seamlessly wired into it. She digitized the engravings on one side of the object and set about finding where Elder had hidden the next piece.

As she stared at the Scandinavian piece some two weeks earlier, Lara had realized that the coordinate symbols on the piece had changed since she had first taken possession of it. From there, she had surmised that the engravings fluctuated to provide the current location of the corresponding piece - not just where it was hidden.

Lara had spent a few worried moments wondering whether Elder had figured this secret out as well, but then realized that the information would just lead Elder to Lara's home, which was where she was likely to keep them anyway.

...and they were more than welcome to _try_...

She had gone to considerable lengths to make her home as secure as possible, an invasion a few years ago made these precautions all but a necessity.

The program's status bar told Lara that it would be quite a while before the translation was accomplished, so she launched her internet browser to catch up on a few things. She had quite a few messages, and began working down the list, scanning names and subject headers for any reason to delete the message, and quite a few of them were never even opened before meeting their demise. One of the messages caught her attention. Lara did not recognize the sender's address off-hand, but the subject line read:

WHERE IN THE HELL ARE MY CIGARETTES???

Lara instantly knew the message was from Max, but she wondered how he could have gotten her private E-mail. Apparently, this man was more resourceful than Lara gave him credit. Feeling almost giddy, she quickly opened his electronic letter, which had been sent over a week before.

Laura,

Hey, what's happening? Yes, I am just joking about the smokes, but I didn't wanna get this thing deleted as I have no other way of getting hold of you. Yes, I made it back in one piece - thought I swear I saw Jesus trying to hitch a ride on a deserted Mexican highway.

So, how are you? I wanted to thank you for signing off on that release, I am making money hand-over-fist just in the pre-orders of the tape - I appreciate it.

And that brings me to the other reason I had to get in touch with you - that tape has opened a whole kettle of worms up for me. Everyone is breathing down my neck to get more action stuff with you - don't worry, I already told them 'no,' but there was another offer that I thought was much more intriguing - and just might give me a snowball's chance of getting out of this business.

I have included my home number in the footer of this message, please call me whenever you can - even if it's just to tell me to go screw myself, I miss you a little.

Please call me...

Max

Below his name was a mishmash of routers and stops that this message had made in it's journey to Lara, and also included Max's home phone number - not the business number that was on his card.

In a moment, it was as if the past two weeks had not happened, Lara felt a surge of emotion shoot from the deep recesses of her stomach and vent out of her ears - they were getting awfully hot.

Before she knew what she was doing, the phone was in her hand and she was calling across the ocean. It took several moments for the call to process through, but she soon heard the distinctive long rings of an American telephone.

On the fourth ring, Lara started wondering where Max was, then she thought about the time difference...

"Hello?" came the voice of a very young girl.

"Yes, is Max there."

"Yes."

There was no sound of the phone being placed down, or of Max being summoned. Lara acted on a hunch.

"May I speak with him?"

At that point there was a jostling sound on the other end, and then a deafening, "DAD-EEEEEE!!!"

Then came a bang! as the phone was dropped and the sound of little footsteps bounding down a hall, several more muted "Daddy!"s followed, and finally the crack of another line picking up. A low-pitched, gravely voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Max?"

"You're on the air..."

"Greetings from England."

Max's voice immediately perked up.

"Lara?"

"Correct."

"Hell, I thought you fell off of the face of the earth."

"I did."

"Think you're so Goddamn funny..."

Suddenly, the young voice was back with threatening tone.

"Umm...you'd better pay the jar or I'm tellin' Mom!"

"Melissa, please hang up the phone."

"I'll tell mom," the little girl replied.

"Your Mother is right next to me, and I promise to pay up, okay?"

"Okay."

"Now hang up, sweetie."

"Your friend talks funny, she sounds like the girl on the game..."

"She sure does, now hang up the phone, honey."

Max's words were followed by a series of bangs and crashes as the receiver was finally placed back in its cradle.

"Sorry about that."

"Accepted."

"So, how are you? What have you been up to?"

"I've made some progress in the matter we discussed before, but I'm afraid that my most recent trip did not agree with me..."

"Are you all right?"

"I won't be taking on any helicopters for a little while, but none the worse. So, what is this proposition you have, can we discuss it over the phone?"

"Oh sure, it's totally up-and-up."

"So?"

"Aw, man, I'm not ready for this. I've got all kinds of crap down in my office."

"I don't want your 'crap,' just tell me what you want with me."

"Well, you ever watch History Central?"

"Pardon?"

"It's a cable network, pretty big, and they want me to do a series of documentaries on you."

"I really don't want to be any more of an American action hero..."

"No, ya see, that's just it, they aren't interested in the gun stuff, they want to do an educational series about archaeology- but that kind of stuff is seen as boring by the average person."

"And you want me to make in interesting?"

"Exactly. Basically, I'd just be following you around with the camera, going through you daily routines. Really, it's more of a biographical segment..."

"I really don't do such things..."

"Come on, for me?"

"And just what is it that you are getting out of it?"

"Credibility."

"Pardon?"

"Did you even see, Lands of Turpin?"

"Wait a moment - that's your little Native American movie."

"Yeah - it bombed. Know why?"

"It wasn't any good?"

"Thought I told you to lay off the sarcasm. Anyway...no! It bombed because everyone knew me as the combat guy. A simple documentary about a long-forgotten tribe was not what my general fan likes, and those who might like the film were not fans of my earlier work and it was dismissed. I spent more money than I could count on that flick, and nobody cared."

"So, if you get me in you next movie, there is something to take the focus off of you - you're own reputation having hurt the other project."

"Damn, that's good. I was just gonna say that you sell. I bet if I taped you reading the dictionary it would sell - and Webster's would be backordered for the next year."

"I doubt that..."

"Hey, prove me wrong. Let me come and tape you for a while - it'll be fun."

"I don't think so."

"Please."

"I'm just not that comfortable being filmed."

"Don't worry about that, I've got it taken care of."

"How?"

"I'll show you when I get there - so we have a deal?"

"I really don't..."

"C'mon, do it."

"Max..."

"Just do it."

"Please..."

"C'mon, do it."

"All right, just stop pestering me."

"Then you'll do it?"

"Yes."

"Great!" Max's voice became very rushed and excited like a small dog, "you won't even know I'm there, and you can have approval over the final thing, so I won't take advantage, and..."

"Max, I said yes. Why don't you go back to sleep. I'll be in touch to make the arrangements."

"Hell, I'm not gonna be able to get back to sleep, I've got a million things to do here. I'll talk to you soon - oh! Can I get your number."

Lara gave Max her home, cellular, and her message service numbers, and then they hung up.

As Lara sat back in her chair, Winston entered, informing her that her physical therapist had arrived and was waiting in (he always murmured something under his breath before saying it) the ball room.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Another two weeks passed, and Lara once again found herself outside the customs area in Heathrow. She stood amidst bustling travelers, but still was not one of them. However, this time she was not lost in the crowd of strangers, she was merely waiting for a friend.

Her outfit was fairly low-key, as she was not one for attracting the attention of various fans and photographers that were sure to be prowling the airport. She wore tan slacks and a billowing white blouse that left plenty to the imagination. She had found that simply covering her cleavage more than enough to remain incommunicado when forced to deal with public areas.

Lara scanned the emerging crowd, searching for a particular face, and all at once he was there, dressed in his khaki slacks, a different loud button-down, and over that an ancient brown leather biker jacket and the same leather satchel. Upon seeing her, Max smiled and waved and moved quickly to her location - he had gotten a hair cut since their last meeting and was also sporting new spectacles. Lara walked causally towards him, not in nearly the rush that Max had gotten himself into.

When they met, Max shocked Lara by wrapping his arms around her. Somewhat startled by his public display of affection, she returned the embrace, only to find that she was no longer on the ground. Her feet instinctively kicked out as Max lifted her high into the air.

While his original hug may have been inappropriate by English standards, lifting Lara in the air was way over the top. Teachings from her earliest childhood told her that this type of display was wrong - and people were watching.

As Max set her down, he whispered quietly in her ear, "Nearest exit - now."

When Lara broke their embrace, one look at Max's face told her that they were in trouble. She immediately regretted meeting Max unarmed - not that she could have smuggled a weapon past the tight security of Heathrow.

"This way," she said as she turned and started off, Max right behind her. She turned her head to see her friend, but he cut her off.

"Eyes straight ahead - you're gonna get us both killed."

Lara made a concerted effort to look inconspicuous, but the more she tried not to be seen, the more people seemed to be looking at her. Lara had never been a fan of large groups of people, and trying to weave silently through one - with lives on the line - was her idea of hell. She would be much more comfortable in the deepest, darkest jungle than trying to navigate a living arena of potential innocent bystanders if violence was called for. 

She kept up a brisk pace for about a minute, but then something dawned on her. Whatever trouble was bearing down on them, Max did not help matters by making a display outside of the customs area - what was going on?

Lara tried to relax and trust Max, but there was part of her that just would not go along with it all...

The doors opened to an automobile pick-up-drop-off area and Lara kept walking towards the parking structure where her car waited.

"That's far enough."

Lara turned as the _clack_ of Max's Zippo was heard.

He was lighting a cigarette and smiling. Lara was incensed, he had frightened the life out of her so that he could have a fag - she began to question ever agreeing to Max's request. Could she have made a mistake? Was the time that they had shared in Central America a fluke, and now Lara had to deal with this man for an unspecified amount of time?

Max had barely inhaled his first drag from the cigarette before it was snatched from his mouth, dropped to the ground and crushed under Lara's shoe.

"Don't ever do that again," she ordered.

Max stared at her for a moment, then produced another cigarette and lit it. He finally replied through the smoke of his exhale, like a character in a film noir.

"Tobacco abuse is a crime, and you looked like you could use a little excitement - I'm sorry."

"Accepted."

"Great. Well...hello, you're looking well."

"Yes, hello."

"Healing well?"

"Yes, I stopped with the sling a few days ago," she rotated her arm as if to remove some stiffness.

"See, you need me with you. An extra set of eyes are always great to have - especially if the eyes have a one-to-one-thousand zoom on them."

"Well, you're here now."

"Did my car make it?"

"Yes, it's waiting in my garage."

"Any problems?"

"Heavens yes, but I made some calls..."

"Some calls?"

"You're little Impreza has been granted diplomatic status - it was just easier that way."

"Hey, thanks."

"My pleasure," she noticed that Max was about done with his cigarette, "shall we get your bags?"

"Don't got none. Really, every thing's in the car. You weren't nosy, were you?"

"Not at all. I never actually got in your car, Winston drove it from the dock, said that driving on the left reminded him of a Packard he once owned."

"My little baby is not a Packard!"

"I'll let the two of you discuss it."

They chatted about this and that as they walked through the parking structure. Lara got out her keys and deactivated the alarm in her car - Max stopped dead in his tracks.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"Yes, you could say that your car made a little bit of an impression."

Before the two of them sat a brand new Subaru Impreza WRX STi 22B - it's deep blue body shimmering even on the cloudy day. It bore more than a passing resemblance to Max's station wagon, save the fact that it possessed only two doors and had the traditional trunk of a coupe. Deep fender flares covered extra wide tires, encasing the trade-mark gold wheels. Those items and a high wing on the trunk were all the clues that betrayed the beast that was under blue sheet metal. Max turned to Lara in astonishment.

"They only made four hundred of these things this year."

"So I've been told. It really is something to drive."

"Christ, I'd give my left arm for one of these. You can't even bring one of these to America - well, you can't drive it on a public road."

"Why not move?" Lara suggested as she opened the door and sat.

As Max sat next to her, she knew that it was going to be a terribly long fifty kilometers to her home. Max spent half his time drooling all over the car, and the other half giving Lara a history lesson on it, and a list of the modifications Max had made on his own Impreza. 

Lara wanted the car because the performance and versatility of Max's wagon seemed like it might suit her well in her line ofwork - sometimes she needed more equipment than could be carried on her Norton.

She had simply asked for the best car that the dealership could get. The salesperson told her that it would not be cheap, at which point Lara phoned her bank and the salesperson smiled broadly. 

She did like to drive the car, but did not realize that a history lecture came with the list of standard equipment. Also, Lara could see that Max was insanely jealous of her and her new car. Finally, Lara had had enough.

"Do you plan to carry on like this for the entire time you're here?"

Max looked pensive for a moment, and then a look of embarrassment actually crossed his face - though just for a moment.

"Naw, I was gonna give you five more minutes of hell before I stopped - is that okay, or would you like me to stop right now?"

"Now would be appreciated."

"As you wish."

Max silenced himself and looked out of the window in mock-indulgence. Lara, unwilling to play Max's game, changed the subject.

"So, how is this going to work? Do you follow me every moment of every day?"

"I guess. I haven't really done anything like this since college - I guess we'll make it up as we go along. I'll just pull a Frederick Wiseman and have no tape in the camera for the first few days and we'll all be set."

"Indulge me, I don't know who that person is. Why are you not going to tape me in the beginning?"

"Actually, it's a favor for you. I really wanted to wait until that zit clears up."

Lara almost looked at herself in the rear-view, but caught a glimpse of Max's smirk.

"Almost made you look."

"Quite...almost"

"The theory is, you don't run any tape, or film, until the subject is used to being taped, therefore getting a true view of them."

"I understand, but how can you get an honest view? As relaxed as I get, I will still know that you're there."

"Butt-scratch factor."

"Pardon?"

"When no one is around, you might scratch you butt - okay, maybe only scum-bag Yanks like me do it. Point is, there are things that we do when we perceive ourselves to be alone that we would never do in front of people."

"Like picking you nose?"

"Yeah, that's a good one. What's so funny?"

"Nothing."

"Anyway, with the camera there, you won't pick your nose, but when you relax enough, then you will do something else - but it equates the same."

"So you want me to scratch my bum for your camera?"

"No, my whole point of being here is to make something that stands no chance of ending up on Fox. 'When Asses are Scratched - Part Seven.' No, that's not what I want, just for the camera to get a good look at the person Lara Croft - not the cardboard cutout."

"Since you put it that way..."

Lara pressed a small transmitter on the sun visor as they were passing a long brick wall. Up ahead, a black, wrought iron gate began to swing inwards.

"You live here?"

"Yes, it is more than I need, but it serves well."

"I've been here before!"

"Deja Vu?"

"No, RAC rally '97."

"Really."

"No, rally - God, I crack myself up. I got a part time gig to tape parts of the rally while I was working with the SAS. The rally crew sent me here to tape stage...I think it was stage seven. I'm surprised I didn't see you here, you must have a great place to spectate."

"I hate those bloody cars."

"Blasphemy!"

"No, they are loud as anything I can imagine, they completely shatter and kind of peace for that time, there are people trotting all over the grounds, and I can't even pull out of my own driveway - can you imagine?"

"It's great fun..."

"Are you a rallyist?"

"Well, sorta."

"I should think that with the money you make from your motoring, you shouldn't have to make those videos."

"Well, that'd be true if I drove a NASCAR, but in America, rally is about as popular as dwarf throwing."

Lara was proceeding past the house to a large door nestled in one of the many brick walls that made up much of her property. Another button made it raise and Lara headed towards the opening.

"I'm sorry, I really don't keep up on such things."

"Aw, rally is great - just imaging our little adventure in the jungle, but you were calling out route instructions instead of shooting."

"I'd rather be shooting."

Max was about to respond but was stopped short as he got a look inside Lara's 'garage.' The door was deceptively small, as there was a small warehouse's worth of space in which to house Lara's various vehicles. Near the front, Max noticed his own Subaru - recently washed and shining under the fluorescent lighting.

"Okay, now I really am jealous."

Lara pulled into a space between Max's wagon and the Range Rover. Some other vehicles that Max noticed were: a late model Astin-Martin DB7, a vintage Jaguar convertible, a brand-new SEAT Cordoba and an aging Bentley. One whole side of the garage was dominated by more than a few motorcycles, most of the street variety. Max lingered on one that looked as though it had been caught up in a fire and then painted in mud.

"Hope you got a helluva deal on that one..."

"No actually, I had it pulled out of the Med. I can be very sentimental at times."

"That why you use those obsolete pistols?"

"They may be obsolete, but they are still effective."

"Getting defensive, eh?"

Max's attention turned to dusty old hatchback nestled in the rear of the area.

"Is that a Mini Cooper?"

"Of course."

"That doesn't seem very Lara Croft."

"As the advertisement says, 'You never forget your first Mini.'"

"I guess not. You know, they were great rally cars in their day..."

Lara walked from the garage, vowing never to be in there with Max again.


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Max had just about finished relaying the Mini-Powered exploits of Timo Makinen when he realized that he was alone in the garage. He reminded himself (as he had to do frequently) that the rest of the world was not as much of a rally fan as he was, and strode out onto the grounds.

At a walking pace with cigarette in hand, Max took his time to drink in the rich shrubbery, immaculately maintained, that dotted the forward area of Lara's estate. The gates had been closed, giving Max mixed feelings of anxiety and security.

When he reached the front door, Max paused. He was unsure of what to do - was he officially cleared to just walk in to her home? True, she had implied just that when she had allowed him access to the grounds - but there was part of him that was honestly afraid of offending Lara - and who knew what sort of traps the Tomb Raider had planted in her own home turf. He crushed his cigarette out on his boot and carefully placed the butt in his shirt pocket.

Opting for the safe way out, Max reached for the large brass knocker set into the door. It made a deep, hollow sound as he struck the pieces together. He could feel more than hear the footfalls against marble flooring as someone was coming to answer the door.

To his surprise, it was not Lara who opened the door, but a man who Max thought should have been in a wheelchair - not standing on his own two feet. This man was old, and had lived through his share of experiences - maybe even more than his share.

"You are expected..." could barely be deciphered through a thick aristocratic accent. The door was opened wide so that Max could enter.

"Thanks Jeeves..." Max replied with a smirk as he entered Lara's enormous foyer.

"Begging sir's pardon, my name is Winston," the butler corrected.

"...and my car is not a Packard - but we can discuss that later. Where is Lara?"

"Ms. Croft is in the Library."

"Good thing I brought along a lead pipe."

Winston made some kind of noise that Max was not able to identify - though it did not sound good. Max wondered how many more minutes of life were left in this man.

"If you please..."

Winston started up the stairs at a pace snails were laughing at as they shot by like bullets. As he ascended the stairs, he was very deliberate about placing each foot on a stair before getting both of them to the next step. By the time they had reached the landing, Max was ready for another cigarette.

Later that same year, Max and Winston emerged at the top of the Music Room stairs and entered the library. Lara had already opened up her desk area and was busy comparing information from her computer screen to a legal pad on the desk...

Winston made another unidentifiable noise before announcing, "a Mr. Reynolds to see you - he was expected."

"Thank you," she replied.

"Yeah, thanks a million Jeeves."

Winston gave a quick look back at Max before starting the arduous trip back down the stairs.

"Did you finish your motor sports lecture?"

"Sorry, I get away from myself now and then..."

"So, what do we do now?"

"I dunno - hey...is the Madonna's Sex?"

Max withdrew the book and started flipping through the pages.

Lara was unsure of how to proceed with this man. She had never been the subject of a documentary before, did he honestly expect her to tell him how to proceed. She also knew that his attention would be otherwise diverted while looking through the book, so she returned to her own work until Max was finished.

"Are those it?"

"Pardon?"

Max was suddenly behind Lara, looking over her shoulder and pointing at her pieces of the ancient device, each in their clear protective cases.

"Your bits of the doo-dad, is that what those guys are?"

"Oh, yes. Have a look?"

She offered one of the cases to Max, who took in gingerly, not wanting to damage the contents. There was no doubt in Max's mind that this thing was old, new rock just didn't look like this. It had a triangular main body that more a symbol that appeared to be an ornate "V" - though Max thought it very unlikely. This piece was around long before Latin and the various dialects had even existed. There were smaller "wings" on either side, one sloping up, the other down. On these smaller areas were many smaller symbols that Max had little idea about.

"Looks like a little space fighter..."

"What?"

"I know it's not, but there, the wings, and here is the nose. I guess they all make kind of a thick, flat ring when they are all together?"

"I presume."

"Is it warm?"

"Yes, they seem to have some sort of energy within them, but all of the x-ray and imaging tests I had done turned up nothing."

"Interesting..."

There was a moment of silence as Max regarded the item for a few more seconds, then returned it to Lara.

"So, what's next?" he asked.

"Are you hungry? Thirsty? Do you want a tour of the grounds? Check in at your hotel? I am at your service"

"Well, I don't really have a hotel - so that one's out."

"Where were you planning on sleeping?"

"I'll just crash in the Soobie - no big deal..."

"I'd put you up in here, but I have no guest accommodations."

"Hey, that's fine."

"We'll find you a hotel."

"Really, that's okay - do you stay in a hotel when you're working?"

"A suite, usually. If I'm not wandering through some burial chamber, I do enjoy first class."

"Interesting. No, if I could just stay in my car in the garage - I need to be close to you if this thing is going to work. I can't have you wandering out to some secret night-life without having me along..."

"There is a couch there in the music room..." Lara offered.

"I thought you' never ask..."

"It's settled, then," Lara announced as she rose from her work area, flipping the switch to retract the desk, "now, about that tour..."

"Cool desk. I have one just like it - well, it's actually a book that has a little safe inside. It's still pretty cool, though..."

"I'm sure it is."

Lara gestured for Max to lead the way from the room so that their tour could commence.

They walked all through the house and grounds. Max seemed the most excited about the indoor pool and the fact that Lara had, and used, a bidet (which Max unfailingly referred to as a 'Hoe-dee-doh').

After their tour was complete, they were near the garage.

"Can I bring some of my junk up there, roomy?"

Lara began to get frightened again.

"Can I assist?"

"My stuff is heavy, can you handle it?"

Lara's eyes narrowed.

"Or you can carry it all yourself..."

Her eyes were now slits.

"Or I can just get it all."

In the end, Lara did help move Max in - for he had brought with him quite an assortment of cases, boxes, and more cabling than Lara had ever seen in her life. When all of the items were moved, then Lara excused herself to start on some dinner. Winston had left for the day during the tour and was unsure of what to feed Max.

She decided that if beans on toast were good enough for her, then they were good enough for her 'roomy.' Upon preparing the food she proceeded up to the music room to announce the meal, finding that Max had gotten his editing suite all set up in the corner by the piano.

"You got yourself up and running quickly."

"You kinda have to in my line of work."

"I suppose. Dinner's ready, if you'd like."

"Sure, I haven't eaten since that plane - give me MREs any day of the week."

"Shall we?"

Max followed Lara down the stairs and into the formal dining room. Two places were set; one at the far end of the room, and another just next to the head of the table.

"Hell, you ever just snarf something over the sink with a paper towel handy?"

"Not tonight. Something to drink?"

"Ah, I have to see if it's ready..."

Max headed through the doors and into the kitchen. Lara followed him dreading whatever else he had done this time.

"I borrowed a little space in your meat locker - if you don't mind."

"By all means..."

Max opened the door, and they both were hit with a blast of cold air. Max walked into the room and pulled a diet cola can from a case on the floor.

"Sorry, I can't deal with that English room temperature crap. This time, I came prepared."

"Very good."

They both retired to the dining room and ate.

As they were finishing up, Max got down to business.

"So, when's your next trip into the field?"

"About two weeks off."

"What's the prize?"

"I am going after the final piece of the device."

"Where to now?"

"It's located on the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Russia - both Elder and I know where it is."

"So, go grab the thing and then worry about how to get Elder's, right?"

"It's not that simple."

"Yeah, things never are..."

"The area where the last piece is supposed to rest is under...a dispute of ownership."

"Great...gotta love the two-bit, petty warlords..."

"More than that, satellite photos of the region place the artifact down the recesses of a dormant volcano."

"You said 'dormant' right, not 'extinct?'"

"I said dormant."

"Well, hell, I can't see where this is leading...what's the plan when the thing erupts?"

"If it erupts, I plan not to be there."

"Sounds wise. Why wait?"

"We can't just go there, preparations have to be made. You don't think that I just wander into an area and stumble blindly until I find some crypt, and then blunder about some more until I get an ancient treasure, do you?"

"When you put it that way..."

"At the moment, I have people researching the area for potential threats - both natural and human. I am getting a report from a volcano specialist about Mount Koryaksky and full maps of the area - and some basic instruction about handling yourself inside one of those things. Also, I still have another week, at least, before I am fully recovered. Do you just pick up a camera and start following people around, or do you prepare for the situation?"

"I like to be able to just go wherever, but I know what you mean. I have toys that could have knocked down the Huey in Central America, but I opted for added fuel and the satellite phone - and we know what happened to those..."

"Yes, so you understand?"

"Sure, what about Elder, how long will it take her to get things under way?"

"I can't say for sure, but I know that she does not have the contacts and influence in the former Soviet Union that she had in Central America - there won't be any government escort waiting for her at the wharf. Also, with that remote a location, it will take her quite a while to get there."

"They do have airports there, don't they?"

"Oh yes, we'll be coming in to the main landing area in Petropavlovsk. The field is far enough out of town to the north that we can get going without too much undue attention."

"You've been there?"

"I was in the area a couple of years ago..."

"So, if they've got an airport, why will it take Elder so long to get there - and who in the hell is this character?"

"Elder is a competitor, and she refuses to fly - so I have some time to prepare."

"Good, and that will give me some time to get the car set up for us - I might need to use that diplomatic thing again when the next group of stuff arrives - we won't get caught with our pants down twice..."

"Far be it from me to separate a boy and his toys."

Max hesitated over his next words.

"Lara, not to sound ungrateful, but I was trying to get away from my usual trademark crap here. Anything else on the horizon? Something with a little less...gunplay potential. Maybe just your basic dig?"

"What, get my fingers in the dirt?"

"That was the idea."

"Heavens no, I don't do that kind of work any more - that's what graduate students are for. I've moved more than my share of earth, my dues have been paid."

"Well, I guess I can edit around the stuff where you're giving some poor Russian a lead enema - stuff like that."

At that moment, Lara realized Max's intentions...

"Max...I work alone - I thought that you knew that. I thought that all you wanted was to have a holiday here making your little movie and then go home. I'm not sure about taking you into the field, I can't be responsible..."

"Hey now, don't worry about it. First off, once we really get started with this thing here, I'll be as far away as you want, and second - I think I've proved to you that I can take care of myself in the field. I might even be able to help."

Max's words of comfort had the opposite effect.

"I never said I wanted any of your help - and I certainly don't need you following me all over Russia," Lara said quietly, desperately trying to keep her composure as she walked from the room.


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

It did not take long for Max to locate Lara. He had heard the kitchen door open and close, and as he went outdoors, he saw that Lara was moving gracefully along her jungle gym (as Max had called her assault course).

As good as Lara was, Max was able to jog along the pavement next to the course and easily beat Lara to the end. As she stopped at the finish flags, Max was trying to determine if the water hazard from the course was the only liquid dripping from Lara's face.

Lara would not look at Max, she placed her hands on her hips and gazed back at the course, regaining her breath control.

"I'll go, just say the word..."

"I think it would..."

"...and give me a decent reason why."

"What?"

"I want to know what I did to you. I mean, I know what an butt-head I am - that's no surprise. But most people, if they are going to get pissed at me, do it pretty quick, not wait until we are having our second dinner together."

Max withdrew a cigarette and lit it.

"Lara, I'm your friend - whether or not you are mine is another matter and not important at the moment. To be honest, I really don't have that many friends. People are either scared of me, or hate me, or are just groupies who don't give a rat's ass about me - they just wanna be buddies with 'The Man.'

"But, you are none of those, so I guess that makes you a friend by default, I don't know. All I do know is that I want to help my friend, 'cause it looks like she's hurtin' here. Am I wrong, or is this normal for you?"

"Never," she replied quietly, her back still towards him.

"Okay then, what is it?"

"I don't know."

"You can do better than that..."

"You."

"Me?"

"You're making me like this."

"I'm not following. Tell me what I'm doing, and I'll stop."

At this moment, Lara turned around, her face was a twisted mask of angst - though there were no tears.

"When you are around, this is how I am. When I think about you and our little adventure, this is how I get. I don't know what to make of these feeling and I sure as hell don't know how to stop them - except for you not to be around. I'm sorry." If it were still part of her psyche to cry, Lara would have.

For a moment, Max looked not into the eyes of the Tomb Raider, but those of a young, wide-eyed girl who had died on the side of a mountain. To this girl, the death of a family pet was the worst trauma she had ever known, the world of the Tomb Raider was just too much to deal with.

Max did not know all of the variables that were in play, but there was a kind of connection that the two shared, and Max was able to somewhat localize her source of pain.

"Hey, let's take a walk."

Lara did not respond, began to move along with Max.

"Not long after we first met, I said something about our lives being a little bit similar, and you didn't seem to think so then. I hope that you have changed your opinion a little bit since then."

The look on Lara's face said that she had.

"When I first got into this line of work, I worked alone - well, there were always subjects around, but I had to both stay out of their way and watch my own ass. Well, trying to do all of that stuff at once made sure that something was going to suffer, and it was audio. You couldn't hear a damn thing in my early stuff, so I hired a sound guy to come along with me.

"Michael was his name, and the guy was no idiot - a former SEAL - but everywhere we went, the footage was terrible, even though he was doing his job - know why?"

"You weren't working alone any more."

"Exactly, but even more than that. See, the people who I tape are going to be in that situation whether I am there to document it or not, but if it were not for me, Michael would not have been there. You're right, I was scared of him getting hurt, and that kept us from getting into the kind of situations that I was famous for. I was not able to function with that responsibility hanging over my head."

"So what did you do about it?"

"Well, I turned out complete crap for about six months, then talked to some guys at Sony who set me up with a smart sound mixer and I could just set and forget."

"And Michael?"

"He's a buyer a very successful military mail-order company."

"So you never truly solved the problem."

"Well, I haven't gotten that way with you..."

"But I am a subject, not a partner."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Well, I'm just here to diagnose the problem, your results may vary."

"Of course."

"So, can I stay?"

"I've never really been one to back away from a challenge - you may stay."

The walked for a while longer, chatting about this and that - keeping the tone light. Lara was still having difficulty keeping her emotions in check, the image of Max hitting the ground after her 9 mm slugs had found their mark was replaying in her head. It soon dawned on her that then was the moment that this surge of feeling had started, it had just taken her a while to actually deal with it.

Max was comforting, but was out of answers to truly help Lara. As annoying as the emotions were, she also accepted the fact that they were a part of her. Lara Croft, as inconvenient as it was, was not a robot and at the moment she was hurt - as sure as if she had a broken bone that required healing.

She tried to look at this as any other challenge that she had to overcome - like maintaining her high level of physical fitness - the reward of which would be her ability to honestly work with a partner.

True, Lara had worked alone in the past (with a few short-term exceptions), her adventure with Max had shown her that the two of them were capable of things that neither of them could do alone - but that meant that she had to trust.

Lara had seen in films and on the tele where on character would say, "I've got your back," and the two would survive the battle. In reality, Lara had only known one thing that would effectively "get her back" and that was a nice, solid rock wall. Being able to let go and allow someone else to protect you was bad enough, but also having to look out for them was almost intolerable.

Much of Lara's survival over the years had more than a little bit to do with her agility and maneuverability. Max could move through the jungle well, but could he climb up a stone wall while razor-spikes were bearing down on him? Lara had managed that feat, and if she could not then it would be no fault but her own.

As their stroll was coming to an end, Lara chose to not worry about Max for a while, and even felt a little good about herself for realizing the problem, and beginning to deal with it.


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

It was the middle of the night, and Lara slept soundly. Her dreams were hopeful, fantasies of a possible future. She, with graying hair, but looking much the same, was dedicating a wing of the Royal Museum of...

There was someone banging during her speech.

In a moment, Lara was noiselessly awake and a moment later was completely aware of her surroundings. The banging was on her bedroom door and was not part of her dream. She reached for the shotgun that waited patiently next to her bed and rose, wearing only an oversized T-shirt..

The knocking was getting more and more frantic. Lara opted not to put a round through the door, as she had a guest and intruders rarely knocked. 

Opening the door a bit revealed Max wearing nothing but his boxers and carrying a motorsports magazine.

"Please, let me in," he pleaded.

Lara opened the door, training the shotgun on whatever creature was pursuing Max. There was none.

Max was already heading across the room towards Lara's balcony and...

...bathroom.

"Sorry," Max said quickly, "but even my first apartment had more than one can. Could you excuse me?"

Lara shouldered the shotgun and left the room.

This was a situation that she had not planned for.

Lara stood at the railing for several minutes, until she heard Max yell.

"Woo-hoo! I'm using a Hoe-Dee-Doh...and I'm lovin' it!"

Less than a minute later, Max opened the door,

"Sorry about that..."

"All part of being the good host."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Yes."

"Where the hell does your butler take care of business? That dude sounds like he needs to go like twenty times a day."

"I really don't know," she replied through a yawn.

"Okay, I can take a hint..."

Max started back towards the music room and Lara returned to her bed, but a completely grotesque scent blocked her way.

"Max!"

"What? Oh...yeah. You know, you really shouldn't have fed me beans..."

* * *

Unable to sleep because of jet lag, Max went over to his editing suite and started everything up. He quickly checked through and new E-mail, only responding to the messages from his wife and daughters.

With that complete, Max withdrew a digital video cassette from a hidden compartment in one of his cases. He inserted it into one of the decks and, after looking around to see if he was being watched, played the tape.

The image was somewhat fuzzy, that fact and the high, unmoving angle gave the footage a look similar to that of a surveillance camera. Nothing happened for a for moments, then Max shuttled the tape forward until a figure entered the frame.

It was Lara Croft, and the room was the bathroom of Max's hotel room. Lara quickly undressed in front of the camera that surreptitiously taped her. She then stared into the mirror for a moment, her finger tracing what appeared to be a tan line, then got into the shower. Even though she had closed the door, her blurry silhouette could be plainly seen as she washed herself.

As Max had this tape playing, he seemed more lost in thought than interested in looking at Lara's nude form. Going back to his Powerbook, Max opened his financially software as large numbers of red that stared him in the face.

* * *

The following morning, Max and Lara stood at the start of her assault course. She wore her normal outfit of Shorts and leotard, and Max wore his camera vest and pads over his khakis and Hawaiian shirt.

Max was still a little winded from their 10K run - but he was never going to let Lara know about it. She had insisted that he train with her so that they could learn each others' limits and anticipate each others' actions.

Lara waited a moment before starting the course. Truth was, she was a little winded from the run as well - but she was never going to let Max know about it. She looked about slowly, for any diversion that would allow her heart to slow down twenty beats a minute - then she saw it.

"So, Max, what all of your little toys there?"

Max lowered the camera, and regarded her with a little bit of annoyance. He had been pointing that thing at her all day long, but Lara could plainly see that the red RECORD light never came on - he was just holding the thing and pointing it at her.

He must be hoping that she would scratch her bum.

"Well, the camera here is digital, fitted with a 10-100x optical zoom infrared lens. I can go up to 1000x with digital zoom, but the quality goes to hell if I do. There are on-board batteries for the camera, good for most of the day - depending on what I'm doing and the temperature and all that. There are extras here in the vest that about double the time from the onboard.

"Here on my wrist is my Newton. It's got an on-board GPS receiver combined with topos of most of the world and street maps of the major cities - I also use the thing to take notes and such on shoots - I can shoot a lot of footage over a short period of time - most of that is crap, so I log when the good stuff happens so that I don't have to go hunting all over for it later.

"In my vest I keep the batteries I mentioned earlier, extra tapes, my smokes, extra clips for the Glocks, and whatever else I think I might need - I'm a firm believer in the 'ounce of prevention' cliché."

Max withdrew his sidearm from its holster. He wore his weapons because he saw Lara strapping on her own - when in Rome...

"Ten millimeter Glock 20. Little more punch that your Brownings, but a little harder to use. I have a infrared sight mounted within the spring mechanism - I used to use those clamp-on jobbies, but they just look to tacky and get knocked out of alignment if you breath on 'em wrong.

"When the fit really hits the shan, I have a hold-out Glock 29 - also ten millimeter, and the magazines for both are interchangeable."

His hand disappeared behind his back and out with the little brother to his standard piece.

"Ten you're lucky number?"

"Naw, I had a Bureau friend of mine that swore by the caliber, and my Baretta was getting more than a little long in the tooth."

Lara effortlessly drew her own sidearms.

"These have always worked fine for myself."

"Yeah, I meant to ask you about that..."

"I'm not replacing my guns for you. Have you already got sponsors lined up for this movie?"

"Nothing like that - but I'm surprised that you don't get a check from Browning every month. You did for that gun what the Postal Carriers did for the AK-47."

"Another good weapon."

"Kolishnikov's finest. I'm terrible with a rifle - bad eye dominancy thing, and this camera rig only make it worse." 

"You could just use it on your right and train your eye..."

"Yeah, one of those things I've been meaning to get around to. Anyway, I don't have much use for rifles in this business, give me a shotgun with a laser, then there's no screwing around."

"I've used my share, but the slow reloads tend to get in the way."

"Not with my scatter-gun, sister. Anyway, I was a little curious about your left-hand gun - who did the work?"

Lara held aloft her weapon that ejected spent casings to the left as opposed to the right.

"A little shop downtown did it for me."

"Cool. See, when I'm both shooting and shooting at the same time, the shells from the Glock smack against side of the camera - I was just wondering what you did to get them to eject the other way."

"I'll get you the number."

"Thanks," he replied, noticing that Lara's eyes were still upon him, "Oh, I see."

"What?"

"You don't care about the junk I wear, you just wanted to check out the merchandise."

"Pardon?"

Max started a slow circle, waggling his rear end the whole way around - all for Lara's benefit.

"You can lookie, but no touchie!"

Lara fought the smile that came to her lips, barely winning out against Max's gyrating behind.

"You know you want it..."

"I haven't any notes to stick in you trousers."

"Sure, treat me like a piece of meat - you women are all alike."

"Excuse me?"

"Ah, you're right. At home, it's nothing but women - what with the wife and the two daughters. Hell, even the dogs are bitches. 

"Would that be Danger and...Stinky?"

"You got it. I have to wade hip-deep through the estrogen there - no worries here."

"I'm a girl too..."

"Aw, save that crapola Lara. I bet your ying-yang is bigger than mine..."

Lara was speechless, she wanted to give this man a vulgar retort, but there were no words coming, and the more she fought to say something amusing, the farther away the words went.

Then a single word came to her, one that would give her an escape, however brief.

"Go!"

She caught Max off guard and leapt to the first row of crates before he had even moved. Lara's jumped deftly from one obstacle to another, quickly outdistancing her companion. Upon reaching the set of wooden columns, she paused just long enough to look over her shoulder.

Max was no longer behind her.

This was the moment that Lara was dreading - the decision.

Even though it was merely her practice course, Lara's mental list of top ten course times was something that she took great pride in - but Max may have fallen and injured himself. What should she do.

Lara then decided that she would make a lesson out of the experience for Max. If he was to travel with her (and remain out of the way - as he had promised) then he might want to reconsider the trip if he was not able to make it through her relatively simple obstacle course.

She pressed on through the course.

The doubt that her decision had brought out from within her was smoothed out as she navigated the rest of the course, muscles working over obstacles that were commonplace in the field diminishing the feelings...

Lara crawled on all fours through the final portion of the course before the targets were to spring to life, but there was something else out there before her.

A pair of boots.

Completing the portion of the course, Lara stood and saw Max, who was taping her every move. Not wanting to speak to him at that current moment, she drew her pistols and and started in on the closest target, half a dozen rounds knocking it to the ground. She proceeded through the remainder of the range, and sprinted for the flags that marked the end of the course.

As she was catching her wind, she noticed that Max was approaching with camera glued to her. Lara's mood was quite evident on her face and tone of voice.

"The whole point of this is to see if you can keep up with me, not to see of you can walk faster than I can climb..."

"I was just taping you, thought I would get a better angle from down here - what's up."

"Why don't we try again - but this time you make it through proper."

"What's the problem?"

"I want to be sure that you can make it through the course."

"Where you go, I go. C'mon, I've done this before..."

"Now I want you to do it for me."

"I could take that on a few different levels..."

"I'm not joking."

"Lara, I don't know how to tell you this, but there are things in the world that your Jungle Gym here doesn't exactly cover. I mean, how many zip lines have you actually come across in the field?"

"You might be surprised."

"I'll be able to keep up with you out there, I've been doing that kind of thing for a few years now..."

"Then you'll have no problem negotiating my 'Jungle Gym.'"

"All right..."

Max headed back towards the start of Lara's training aid.

She followed him there, and he took his place on the first crate.

Lara produced a stopwatch and a small video camera. She powered on the tiny device, pointed the lens at Max and instructed, "whenever you're ready..."

"I thought I was following you."

"No. I'll return the favor and tape from down here - tit for tat."

Max turned to her, trying to discover of she was joking...she was not.

Lara, in turn, was enjoying the moment. On the one hand, she felt a sense of poetic justice rise in her - Max was not going to have things his way (for once). However, she was feeling something else, something deeper than her amusement. There were few people in the world who could have completed her assault course on the first try - there were just too many things that had to be dealt with, too many disciplines that needed to be mastered.

She was relieved that Max would fail her test.

It all stemmed from the softness that had been dredged up by Max's arrival in her life. Lara did enjoy the time that they had spent together - in a masochistic sort of way - but she had an absolute revulsion to going back into the field with him. This softness that she had been feeling was merely an annoyance as she researched material and tended to her local business - in the field it could easily cost her life. If he was not able to keep up with her over her chosen route, then he should not be allowed to join her, and neither should the feeling.

"Waiting for a special invitation?" Lara asked as she began recording.

"No."

Reluctantly, Max clipped his camera rig to his back and surveyed the first leg of the course. Satisfied that he had as much information as he was going to get, Max took a step back and vaulted himself into the air.

Lara was initially impressed. She had to get a running start to clear the first gap in her course, but Max leapt with the grace of a dancer.

And landed with the balance of a two-year-old. He had almost overshot the far edge of the crate, then backpedaled his arms for balance. After recovering, he shot Lara a look that could have toasted bread, then continued.

Lara actually saw the moment when Max stopped thinking and worrying and gave himself over, as Lara had done so many times. His next jumps and climbs were much more controlled - especially the landings.

Lara was beginning to get worried.

That worry stopped when Max reached the series of tall columns, designed to teach ultimate control of leaps - something that Max did not possess. He arrived atop the first spire too fast, and plummeted off of the far edge.

The sand that surrounded much of the assault course was, in fact, over a foot thick, a fact that Max was pleased about as he impacted - though the fall had knocked the breath from him,.

He looked to his right, and Lara was there, lens looking to him and then to the stopwatch. For a breathless moment, he thought of all of the people who would pay for the footage of him stumbling and falling through this course. Max had deliberately made sure that he was rarely photographed for just that reason. Trying desperately to relax, Max inhaled the tiniest bit of air - but was soon breathing again and rose to his feet.

Lara panned the camera back to him as a drill sergeant regards a recruit. _Do you want to quit yet?_ the look on her face implied. Max ran down to the end of the columns and pulled himself up onto the low crate, his shirt tail rising a little too much, and his waistband hanging a little too low for Lara's taste - she quickly turned the camera away from Max's bum.

And Max pressed on.

* * *

It was roughly seven minutes later when Max rose from the bunker-like area he had to crawl through. Three rows of targets suddenly sprang to life before him.

Despite the blood flowing from his temple and the ribs he was sure were cracked (or at least bruised) Max drew his Glock and fired a single round at the nearest of the targets. The slug hit its mark and the target returned to the ground.

Lara was impressed, not necessarily with Max's accuracy, but with the stopping power of his weapons. It typically took Lara half a dozen rounds from her Brownings to knock over her targets - a single millimeter made all the difference.

Max finished off the first row, then dropped to one knee and braced himself for the second. For the third row, he brought his camera into the actions, using it as a reference for the final shots fired.

When the last target was downed, Max holstered his sidearm and ran as fast as he was able - Lara kept up with a light jog - to the finish flags and promptly collapsed on the platform.

"How...did I do?" Max managed to ask between wheezes.

"I seriously doubt my personal record is in any jeopardy."

"I mean...do I pass?"

"For the moment, yes."

"Cool," Max gestured to one of Lara's Brownings and then to his own temple. "Now, would you mind putting me out of my misery?"


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The sun was setting as Lara's Subaru retuned to her home. After the auto was safely tucked away, Lara and Max made their way back to the house. Max was still limping from his adventure through the assault course three days earlier, but tried to hide the fact. Lara held the front door open for Max and he ambled inside and up the stairs to his temporary room.

Lara remained on the lower level of the foyer, watching Max leave.

It had not been a good day.

Lara had never been a fan of tending to her professional life outside of the field, but she had honestly thought that her time with Max was going to be different. While she dreaded going her publisher to pick up her rewrites (did he not know of the postal service?) the thought of taking care of these necessary evils was much more palatable with her friend coming along with her - but Max was no longer her friend once that camera of his was turned on.

He had barely spoken with her over the past few days, just kept that damn lens of his thrust into her face. When he did speak, it was to ask her some damn fool question while she was in the middle of something terribly important. He explained that it was an old tactic to get someone to answer a question honestly, but Lara really didn't appreciate being ambushed by him. Then, when the days were done, Max would return to him room and log the day's footage - which Lara was not allowed to view, lest she become 'self-conscious.' Lara and Max were strangers living in the same house.

After the publisher, they stopped by her office at Oxford (a ceremonial title - she gave the odd lecture there from time to time) and a stop at a studio to rerecord some lines for her third game that was due out in the fall. All the time, there was no Max with her, only a lens staring her in the eye. She had honestly expected something different to happen while Max was visiting.

Perhaps he should simply go home.

Max entered his temporary room and placed his camera on its charger, removing the tape that was inside. He placed the small cassette with the five others he had gotten that day and stared at them.

Nothing. Another wasted day.

Not one decent frame for the whole week. True, the stuff with her jumping all over the assault course was pure gold - Max could envision a slow-motion close-up of Lara's breasts being a special on Thursday night Fox. However, he did not come over the Atlantic for "gold."

He made the trip to gain credibility.

Sure, he could sell the material - the tabloids would have climbed over each other to get the footage of Lara Croft being berated by her publisher. He was big - at least three hundred pounds - and was possibly the most effeminate man Max had ever met. His large frame had jiggled as his high-pitched voice screamed over lapses in grammar and word choices that he felt were poor.

Max expected Lara to haul off and hit this obese monstrosity at any moment, but she never did. She jotted notes in the margins of her manuscript and actually thanked him at the end.

If Max were her, he would have gotten a new publisher...a decade ago - but if Max were her, he would rarely leave the house...

After Lara's publisher had completed his reaming of her posterior, they were off the recording booth. Of course, Max was not allowed in the room with her, so he hid in a dark corner of the control room before the technicians arrived and was treated to quite a surprise.

First off, the sound engineers had lied to Lara about something having "happened to the footage." In reality, some of her lines were just not good. They had the material that they needed fifteen minutes after they began, but kept Lara there another hour making her grunt and moan for their own satisfaction.

They kept telling her that it was part of the game, that this noise was when she pulled herself up to a ledge, and this noise was when she got shot. Whenever they were not speaking to Lara through the headphones she wore, they were snickering and ogling her. One of them commented that, if not for her heaving breasts, she would not be able to get a job as a lab assistant.

When it was all over, they rose to find Max taping them. The look on their faces was priceless - they both knew that they would not have jobs after Lara found out.

But she never did.

Max said nothing, and Lara knew nothing of what the engineers were saying. Max was there to report, not to get involved in and change the course of Lara's life - he had done that too many times. For this project, Max was going to keep his distance.

And, right or wrong, he thought that she was better off not knowing how those infantile men had stripped her dignity.

Not that Lara was helping him keep that distance. She had tried, on more occasions than Max could count, to get him to start chatting with her about this and that. Not that Max really minded - who in their right mind would pass up the chance to chew the fat with Lara Croft? It was just the simple fact that he was trying to work. Did he bug her about stuff when she was going over ancient ruins? No.

For the remainder of the day, Lara dodged his questions and seemed genuinely irritated about something. Max hoped that Lara understood that his livelihood depended on her cooperation in this video.

In short, there was no way that Max was going to ever show anyone the footage that he had shot. He was a personal friend of Lara, and by the end of the day he honestly felt pity for her - he was going to be sure that she never say anything that he had shot.

Max quickly erased the tapes that he had shot that day - just as Lara entered the room.

She did not appear to notice what he was doing, the look on her face said that there was something big on her mind.

"Hey," Max greeted, "what's up?"

"We need to have a little talk..."

"I thought so...have a seat."

Max offered Lara a second chair near his editing suite, he straddled his own seat as she took hers. Lara was actually having a little trouble looking Max in the eye, something he looked upon more with amusement than anything else.

"I don't think our...arrangement...is working out."

"Yeah, it's been a tough start."

"No, I mean that it's not working at all."

"Ah, I take it you want me out of your house and out of your life, is that it?"

"No, not at all. I just feel that I may not be the best subject for your film..."

"Video."

"...Video...you might be better served to just find someone else to immortalize."

"What did I do?"

"Pardon?"

"I mean, you've been acting goofy all day here - did I do something?"

"Of course not."

"Then what's the problem?"

"I want you to go home."

Max had not expected that level of directness from Lara. There was a awkward moment between the two of them, then Max broke their silence.

"May I ask why?"

"I am having...trouble...making my way with you following me all about."

"Is that all? Hell, you'll get used to that. First few days anyone follows them around, taping everything, it's bound to be rough. Remember what I said about scratching your butt?"

"Max, you haven't even been taping, your little red RECORD light hasn't been on all week."

"Aw hell, I pulled the plug on that thing the second I got the camera - that light'll get me killed. As for the rest, I promise that you'll get used to it."

"I don't want to get used to it."

"Please, Lara, I know this must be driving you nuts, but we're sorta committed to this thing here. I have to complete this project or..."

"Or what?"

"Suffice to say that my butt won't be worth a hill o' beans if I crap out on this thing."

"But why - there have to be other ways for you to make a living. Why not try writing? You seem to have stories every bit as exciting as mine, you might even gain more credibility if you pass your truth off as fiction."

"Oh, I've been published all right..."

"I never knew."

"Yeah, I think only the ten people who bought my book knew - should'a been a professor do that I could have assigned it as a text. I hear what you are saying, and the thought had crossed my mind, but I have to get this project done first - or I start donating plasma."

Lara fought against a smile, and lost.

"Do you have to follow me about all of the time?"

"No, I don't - but the second I'm not taping you, something cool will happen and I won't get it."

"It was almost better when there were people shooting at us..."

"Tell me about it. How long 'till you're back in the field?"

"I need at least another week."

"Okay, tell you what, how about I leave you alone tomorrow. There are a couple of places I need to check up on while I'm over here and you can go and take care of all that crap you don't want me along for - deal?"

"Agreed."

"And maybe I can still tag along to Russia with you next week?"

"Maybe."


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Max thumbed through the pages of Lara's copy of Sex while he sat upon her toilet. Once again, he had interrupted her sleep to use her facilities. When she greeted him at her bedroom door (sans shotgun - this time) he had explained to her, again, that his bowels were still on Eastern Standard Time.

Lara didn't seem to care about his needs - she could be such a grouchy-bear.

Max wondered how she would contend with being married with two daughters and some dogs. His house was never truly quiet and interruptions in sleep were par for the course.

Max concluded his 'meeting' and was cleaning up when he heard the bedroom door open. Quickly replacing his boxers, Max turned towards the noise.

Lara Croft was walking quickly towards him, her face a mask of pure business. Max was about to ask her what was going on when she placed her hand over his mouth, pushed him against her wall, and leaned her head in.

"We have intruders," she whispered.

Max let out a sigh of relief at this news - the other alternative was just too much for him to deal with.

"How many?" he whispered into her own ear.

"Unknown, but I think that Elder has made her play for my pieces."

"How did you find out?"

"I noticed that the security panel by the front door was off, and I am sure to set that each evening before I sleep."

Lara removed the shotgun from her bedside and handed it to Max.

"Can you use that?"

Max checked the weapon and trained it on the bedroom door.

"I'm more of a Mossberg man, but I guess it'll do."

Lara seemed unamused as she removed a key that she wore about her neck and inserted it in the door next to her bed.

"Maybe there's something more to your liking in here..."

Lara opened the door and Max's eyes went wide. Her gun closet was Christmas to Max. He gawked, trying to make up his mind as Lara tied on her thigh holsters, making her t-shirt into more of a dress. Into the holsters, Lara deposited a set of Ingram MAC-11 machine pistols. These small weapons had a very fast rate of fire and had served her well in all of her adventures.

"Guess we're doing the close quarters thing," Max remarked as he returned Lara's shotgun. "is calling the cops is a dumb idea?"

"We've got far more weapons than they do."

"Hoakie religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side."

"What?"

"Been waitin' years for the chance to say that..."

"I don't understand."

"I've got it on DVD, we'll check it out if we live through this."

"Agreed."

As Max had been talking, he had donned a kevlar vest (why had she never used this before?) and an MP-5 submachine gun with several attachments - including a laser site.

"Christ Lara, have enough mail-order crap all over this?" 

"They were there when I found it."

"Whatever."

Lara's bedroom door opened as she rolled out of it and came to a crouch, scanning the area with her weapons. Simultaneously, Max appeared in the doorway, his underpants and bullet-proof vest making for an odd combination. He covered the other side of the room with his own weapon, the laser sight picking up dust particles in the air.

A big, dark, empty room. Nothing.

"Where to next?" Max asked.

"We start from the library and work our way down."

"You take point, I cover your ass?"

"Agreed."

Lara crept to the other side of the foyer, weapons trained in front of her. Less than a foot behind her, Max side-stepped so that he could stay with Lara and still watch out for any surprises from the rear. They walked slowly, the journey to the music room took them just over two minutes.

Max was growing weary, Lara kept looking back at the area he was covering - and ignoring the area that was hers when she did so. Was he not trustworthy? The next time she turned, he finally reacted.

"I've got you."

Meeting his eyes, Lara's went to the floor for a moment. She concentrated on the music room doorway, but she just could not shake the apprehension that there was something going on behind her. Even with Max covering her, it was still a blind spot.

She was no fan of blind spots.

All things being equal, she should have been thrilled at the concept of component backup, but she was just too used to working alone...

...And what if something happened to Max?

The thought was something that she could not even begin to deal with at that moment, too many other things were happening. She pushed at the emotions and felt her face firm as she composed herself.

As they reached the doorway, Lara took position on the far side and mouthed a countdown to Max. When she reached 'zero' they went through the doorway, Lara slightly in the lead, but Max there a split second later.

Again, nothing except what should have been there.

Lara pointed up at the library as Max went over to the mussed blankets on the couch that served as his bed and retrieved his hold-out Glock. He was about to head over to his clothing and camera gear when Lara holstered one of her weapons held a warning hand up, then waved Max over to her without taking her eyes off of the stairs to the library.

"What is it?" Max whispered when he reached her.

Lara drew her second pistol and motioned in the direction of the library, "the fire is out."

At that moment, Max realized that the fire had been burning constantly since his arrival - that thing had to be gas-fed. A sickening thought occurred to him.

"Will it blow?"

"No, but whomever is here went that way."

"Into the fireplace?"

"Yes."

"What the hell is up there?"

"What they came for..."

"Hell, that fire was out when I grabbed the book. God, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Your sleepy eyes might have saved your life."

"Wow, never thought I'd be glad to be clueless."

They took a moment to compose themselves. There was no noise at all from the house. Whoever they were, they were very good.

Lara and Max started up the stairs to the library. The perpetually burning fire usually lit the room reasonably well, but the room was filled with deep pockets of darkness in which anything could be hiding itself.

Max almost retreated down the stairs to get his camera, as its infrared capabilities would not allow anyone to hide. However, it took his over five minutes to suit up with his gear - time that would leave him a proverbial sitting duck.

No, better to stay here and not tape this incredibly tense sequence.

When you put the camera down, that's when something cool happens...

He and Lara cleared the room carefully, then she went over to the fireplace and looked up the chimney.

"As I feared," Lara commented, "go down and cover the foyer."

"We should stay together..."

"I know, but I am going to drive them towards you - just get down there and be ready..."

With that, Lara disappeared a la St. Nick.

Max headed down the stairs and onto the foyer balcony. At that moment, he realized that he had failed to ask from where Lara was going to drive the intruders. Because they headed up the chimney, they must be going outside - maybe the front door? They also might reenter through Lara's balcony.

Max shuttered at the thought that they might have been on the balcony when he was having his "meeting" in Lara's bath.

He decided to orient himself at the balcony corner nearest the music room, just next to the door to the attic. The area offered him the greatest amount of options in covering the area. Extending the shoulder stock on his weapon, Max double-checked that he was set to single fire - full auto was good only for desperate situations when accuracy did not count. A quick scan of the room revealed that all was quiet, Max quickly adjusted his glasses, very glad that he had brought them to the bathroom with him.

As he was enjoying the feeling of Lara's rich carpeting beneath his bare feet, muffled gunshots shattered the moment They were quick bursts, hopefully Lara's Ingrams. Sadly, Max could not tell what direction the sounds had come from...

So Max waited.

Several agonizing moments later, Max heard a odd _Pop! _From the foyer below him. This noise was followed by that of hinges squeaking.

The noise was coming from directly below him, which was strange because there were no doors down there.

Taking his time so as to remain completely silent, Max approached the railing and leaned over, his weapon ready to fire at any intruders.

With his attention focused on the mysterious noise below him, Max was taken totally by surprise when he heard the attic door open behind him. He whirled about and came face-to-face with a female form dressed completely in black.

One moment, Max was leveling his weapon at this person, a split second later he was empty handed. The moment after that his world filled with stars as a foot connected firmly with his nose. Through the tears that instantly formed, Max barely made out his attacker leap to the tile below, roughly the same time as he heard the clatter as his MP-5 did the same.

The figure looked up at him briefly, giving Max the chance to draw his hold-out and cap off a round. The thing in black dodged the round and headed down the hallway to the ball room.

Max shook his head to clear it, then wiped at the large quantities of blood that were flowing freely from his nose. He could not tell if it was broken - it did not matter.

He was going to get the intruder.

His cotton-poly boxers made for surprisingly little friction as he slid down the railing to the lower level. When he had arrived, Max saw the source of the squeak, secret door built just under the bannister.

Just as Max was retrieving his weapon, he heard another pop, and saw that the door was cycling shut in front of him. He dove at the door and slid the MP5 towards it, wedging the stock in the jamb. Rising, he forced the door back open.

Inside, more darkness awaited him.

The worst part of the situation were Max's feet. He did not know what he was about to step in - and that was just not right. He had boots for a reason. Big boots...the kind of boots that a bear trap would have trouble getting through.

He really had to stop being such a wuss.

There was some flickering light coming from the far end of the hallway - and what the hell was this place?

Then again, what other kind of basement would the Tomb Raider have?

This intruder was fast, really fast, and that made Max feel a little desperate.

Max carefully approached the light, taking a moment to flip the selector from single fire to automatic.

Turning the corner, Max was floored. The entire room appeared to be a giant aquarium, there was more water space than there was space for people there. Brilliantly colored fish swam to and fro, the lighting (all coming from inside of the water) making them shimmer.

But the fish were the only residents of the area.

There were a couple of bookcases, a couch similar to the one on which Max slept, and a large crate. There was no sign of the intruder. Max was thinking about other hidden passages along the hallway when something in the tank caught his eye.

This was no fish.

The black-clad intruder was swimming in the aquarium.

To make matters worse, she was now carrying a sealed box, presumably from the bottom of the tank. Max trained his weapon on her, but there was little he could do. If those clear panels could support then tens of thousands of gallons of water, then his 9 mm MP-5 rounds would as effective as cursing at them.

He watched the figure swim about the pool to an opening in the roof that he had not noticed before. Tensing up, Max tried to ready himself for anything.

_Drip...drip....drip._

Max turned to find the source of the noise, but there was nothing there...

Then the flickering light played across the room just right, and Max saw the small puddle that was forming on top of the crate. Max raised his weapon in that direction.

"I've got you, give it up," he ordered.

"I could have killed you," a cold, feminine voice responded. "I could have shoved your nose into your brain and ended it."

"Well, hell...tell you what...to say 'thank you' how's about I just give you my car keys and open the front door, would that be all right?"

"Sarcasm."

"Be great if you'd just drop dead from laughter about now."

"Not tonight."

With that, the figure dropped to the top of the crate and crouched, motionless. Max placed the laser dot on her back the moment she appeared and wavered just short of pulling the trigger.

"Don't even think about moving," he warned.

"If you were going to shoot me, you already would have."

"Don't test me, Tootz. You interrupted a borderline mythical B.M. and I am not the mood."

Two small objects dropped from her hand. One of them was a small metal handle...

...the other, a grenade...

Assessing the situation in a moment, Max realized that his opponent would not be taken alive, as the explosion would kill her unless she made it out of the area. His moment of decision gave the black suited woman the chance to run, and she was out of the room in an instant.

As the handle had just been released, Max had several seconds (there were too many types of fuses to be sure of the time) before the thing went off. He had two choices - taken cover in this aquarium or get out of the area. Max chose the latter in the hopes that it might give him a better chance of catching his prey, not to mention not being drowned under thousands of gallons of water...

Max ran after her, trying to choke down his rage and be calm while getting a bead on this woman. As he rounded the corner to the stairs, he could just see her flipping a switch near the secret door.

Still moving forward, Max leveled his weapon and squeezed the trigger - forgetting that it was still set to full automatic. Repeated muzzle flashes lit up the stairwell as he fought the upward recoil of the weapon, coupled with getting as far from the aquarium as fast as he could.

Then he was hit from behind.

His elbows hit the stairs painfully as he was thrown forward by the blast of the explosive. Ears ringing, he saw the figure slip out of the open door and pondered (briefly) why he was still alive from so close a grenade blast.

_Flash-Bang! _ He thought to himself. This staple of SWAT room clearing made a lot of noise and light, but was not terribly lethal - except to the ear drums. More angry now, Max rose (again) and ran to the top of the stairs.

After inserting a fresh magazine in his weapon, Max burst from the secret passage to find that the foyer was again empty - but the front door was open. He ran to the open portal, chastising himself for letting the intruder get away. Had that been Elder, and who the hell was Elder anyway? 

The front courtyard was empty and unremarkable - except for the front gate that stood wide open. Instinctively, Max thought that too obvious a trap from his crafty prey, but then he heard a motorcycle staring up from close by.

Max ran full force to the gate, the stones that made up part of the driveway were like knives against the bottoms of his feet, but he did not care - his only concern was that this woman did not get away.

As he reached the gate, there was the blur of a tail light streaking off into the night. Max raised his weapon and emptied an entire magazine at the fleeing bike, with no appreciable effect.

Max was just about to give up when he was bathed in light from behind. Lara's Subaru screeched to a halt next to him.

_Get in,_ he read from her lips.


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

With Max's rear end barely in the car, she dropped the clutch and all four wheels spat the stones that had assaulted Max's feet moments before. The wheels found purchase and the 22B was launched into the night.

"I told you to watch the bloody foyer!" Lara scolded as she shifted into second.

"What?!?" Max pointed towards his ears - Lara noticed a small amount of blood collecting in one.

"Foyer! FOYER!!! You were supposed to watch the FOYER?"

"You could have told Mr. Green about the secret passage from the conservatory!" Max shot back at her with equal malice.

"Conservatory?"

"What? Never mind. I doubt we're gonna catch her, not even in this - looked like she had a Katana or Ninja or something like that."

"We'll get her..."

Max was not able to ask for clarification as Lara whipped the car into a tight right-hander onto a gravel road that seemed to appear from nowhere. The back end of the car started to break loose, but a Lara gave the throttle a little jab and the rear came back into line as the weight transferred back there.

Lara hit her high-beams, which penetrated quite far in the dark, revealing a twisting gravel path that led into the woods.

"I trust you know where you're going..." Max commented as he reloaded the MP-5 and fiddled with the night vision scope.

She nodded.

Lara blasted through another tight corner, snatching the emergency brake to slide the car around the nearly one hundred eighty degree curve.

"For someone who claims to hate rally, you aren't too shabby at it..." Max stated as centripetal force shoved him towards his door.

Lara did not respond, her focus more on her driving than the ramblings of her passenger.

"So, what happened up there? I heard the shots."

"Bloody bitch got the drop on me."

"Hey, I heard that! Don't feel so bad...usually, these jerk-off bad guys send in a dozen people making more noise than the circus - you don't find too many who deal in their own dirty-work any more."

"I know, the house's security was designed around more than a single intruder."

"Problems in the past?"

"You could say that..."

Lara trailed off as the gentle left she was take became much less gentle, she let off the throttle and cut the wheel, but that only succeeded in inducing more oversteer and breaking the rear end loose. Max felt butterflies in his stomach as the car got more yaw than it was designed for and began to spin out of control.

Applying throttle quickly, Lara tried to bring the rear end back in line. Her effort was partially successful, and the car started to line back up, but not before the driver's side rear quarter-panel slapped against a tree. The two were jostled, but continued down the road.

Max opted not to bother Lara with any more questions and concentrated on their next meeting with Elder. She was a slippery one, that was sure, but Max was ready for her next tricks. They would be facing her on an open road, with few places for her to hide.

She would be his.

Without warning, the gravel path that they had been traveling on came to an abrupt end. Lara mashed the brake pedal under her bare foot, but did not turn the wheel. The Subaru came to rest in the middle of the road, blocking it.

"Are we ahead of her?" Max asked in disbelief.

"At least a quarter of a kilometer," Lara replied as she got out of the car and took cover behind the front fender.

Max was just rounding the rear of a car when a single light appeared on the horizon. It was headed in their direction at a very high rate of speed.

"Either that's Elder or the fastest damn pa-diddle I've even seen."

Lara did not respond, instead, she extended shoulder stock on both of her weapons, laying one on the hood of her car in reserve. They both raised their weapons towards the light in unison.

Just as it went out.

The noise from the motorcycle's engine let Max and Lara know that it was still bearing down on them, but the dark road would not tell them when or where it would attempt to pass. Lara began to sweep the road with fire from her machine pistol, eventually expending the magazine and swapping the weapon for its twin on the hood and continued her blind firing.

Max held back, trying to get an identifiable image in the green mess of the scope. He was also shooting left-handed this time - but there was no chance of him scoring a hit on that bike shooting from the hip - laser sight or no. He caught a glimpse of something heading for him and managed to cap off four shots before realizing that the bike was neither going to swerve nor stop.

He dove away from the car an instant before the cycle hit it. While Lara's Impreza out-weighed the bike by more than seven times, the motorcycle had been traveling at over a hundred miles an hour when the two had collided The impact was enough to spin the rear of the Subaru ninety degrees in Lara's direction.

Max was concerned for a moment, then saw that Lara too had opted to dive out of the way and was safe on the opposite side of the road. He began to stand, but found that his right leg was numb. He examined the area and saw that something had made a clean cut through his calf, and was only now starting to bleed. He applied direct pressure as Lara approached.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm gonna need some stitches, but I'll live," Max then looked about, "Where is she?"

"She took the high road," Lara replied glibly and pointed down the street.

At least a hundred yards away, Max could see a lump in the middle of the road and was quickly reminded of films he had seen in driver's education more than a decade earlier.

"No way she could have lived through that."

"I'm not in the business of taking chances..." Lara replied as she pulled her shotgun from the car.

Max stumbled to his feet, "got your back."

"You're a bloody mess, sit down," Lara gently pushed him onto the mangled trunk of her car and stated to approach the body in the road.

As her feet padded along the smooth asphalt, Lara started to sense that something was wrong. She was no stranger to those feelings, she had been party to a huge premonition upon her long approach to the Dagger of Xian, and somehow knew that there would be no friends waiting for her upon her arrival in the Antarctic.

Her approach to the fallen rider was another one of those moments.

She looked back to the car, Max sat there, butt of his weapon resting on his thigh, eyes scanning to and fro. For the first time, having him around had made Lara feel better. After seeing him covering her, the doom that her stomach was transmitting to her subsided quite a bit.

About twenty meters shy of the body, Lara's worries became even less and she started to see traces that things were not well up ahead.

When her grizzly trail to the body finally ended, Lara saw that her caution was unwarranted - this person was obviously dead before the collision had occurred. Though the deceased female form wore a helmet, there was a hole, roughly nine millimeters in diameter, through the visor. A spider-web pattern spread out from the point of impact. Both the cracks in the surface and good amount of blood made it impossible to positively identify the corpse. It was this slight doubt that made Lara undertake the nasty proposition of removing the figure's helmet.

With the headgear free, thick black hair streamed over the shoulders of the body and onto the tarmac. The young woman's undamaged eye had a decidedly Asian look to it.

This woman was not Elder.

Lara jerked open the deceased woman's backpack and retrieved the strongbox from her aquarium, then gave an angry yell and hurled the box to the side of the road. She turned and started sprinting back to where Max was waiting.

"What's wrong?" Max asked as he tightened his grip on his weapon.

"She was a bloody diversion!" Lara hissed as she spun and delivered a back pivot kick to an undamaged quarter panel on the Subaru, her bare foot denting the sheet metal.

"But you got the box back, right?"

"That box was _my _diversion!"

"But the secret basement..."

"The pieces were not _in_ the basement, I had them in my office! I assumed she pinched them and was using the attic to escape."

"Why the set-up in the basement..."

"Max, you idiot - my house has to be the best known secret in the Kingdom! Everyone knows about it - didn't you ever play that stupid buggering game?"

Lara punched at the single unbroken window, shattering it and bloodying her knuckles.

"No, I didn't want to come here with preconconcieved notions. Sorry, I didn't know..."

"Well, now the pieces that I did have are now with Elder - thank you so very much!"

Lara's rage was going about unchecked, Max was not sure what to do about it as she still held a shotgun in her hands. She started to raise the weapon with the intention of shooting the car, but seemed to regain her composure.

"We'd better get back home, I might be wrong..."


	20. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The three kilometer walk back to Lara's estate took them over half an hour to complete - largely due to Max's injured leg. He had implored Lara to run on ahead, to stop any other intruders and because of the fact that she was scaring the hell out of him. She remained with him, stating that anything that might have been done to her home had already happened - but there was more, Max thought, as his arm was wrapped around Lara for their walk, he thought that she was honestly concerned about him.

Lara's near-new Impreza was totaled, even if they could have gotten the engine started one of the rear wheels was now facing the sky and the fuel tank had ruptured - it would have not moved an inch. Inoperable also was the car's cellular phone, so they could not call for help. Max usually wore one on his belt, but there had been precious little time to prepare for their latest adventure.

Max swore to himself to sleep in his clothing until his time with Lara was up.

Several cars had passed them in the early morning hours. Each time, the story was the same. A car, seeing pedestrians where there should be none, slowed to see if they could be of service. Upon seeing a bloodied, heavily armed couple in their undergarments, they sped away quickly, probably to phone the Police.

As much as Lara would have welcomed the ride home, she much preferred the walk to explaining herself to the local Constabulary. They tended to have less of a sense of humor than Lara, and were charged by the township that employed them to keep their upper-class community quiet and safe - two adjectives that rarely applied to Lara Croft.

In addition to the blinding anger at herself for falling for Elder's little trap, she felt somewhat ashamed for her display in front of Max. Typically, anyone who saw Lara that livid was not around to remember it - thoughts of Natla's goons filled her head.

Max was starting to get some color back in his cheeks as his body replaced the blood that spilled next to Lara's Sixty-Thousand-Pound-Paper-Weight. Her trunk-mounted first aid kit was nowhere to be found after the impact, so some of her large T-shirt had been donated for a tourniquet and dressing.

Once they got home, she would use a little more advanced measures on Max.

"So, what do we do?"

"Don't try to talk, just keep walking."

"Nah, gotta keep from going into shock."

"Sounds like we're writing a positively dreadful poem."

They both got a little smile from that.

"Hey, I've got two little pieces of info that might make a littler silver lining out of this night."

"What?"

"Well, first I'm glad that we took your car, not mine; and I think all are glad that I wasn't wearing my boxers that say 'If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home Now' on the front."

"Careful, I might laugh so much that I drop you..."

"Okay. What's out next move?"

"Assuming Elder got the other pieces?"

"I think that would be safe."

"Then we push our time-table forward and leave for Russia in the morning."

"As in a few hours from now?"

"Correct."

"I guess you've finally got a good excuse to leave the gimp behind and go the rest alone."

"No."

"No what?"

"No, you're coming with me."

"Why the change of heart, am I growing on you?"

"Like a tumor."

"Hey, speaking of...you don't happen to have a smokey-treat hidden away in those holsters, do you?"

"Afraid not."

"I hate my life..."

With arms around each other, the motley couple continued their march into the night.


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

A comforting vibration and an accompanying noise fought all of Max's attempts to reach consciousness. He was in a safe, happy place, where all of his wishes were granted and everything was soft and warm to the touch.

Then he opened his eyes.

Immediately, he could not help but notice the splint that had been taped over his nose, making breathing out of that orifice rather difficult. He attempted to get up...

...and then the pain came.

All of Max's face seemed to be swollen and sore, he found it difficult to move his mouth. On the bright side, he was able to wiggle the toes of his leg that had been sliced open - how long ago had that been?

Max looked towards his watch and found that it was not there, and neither were his glasses. Eyes squinting, Max tried to get his bearings, finally identifying the noise and vibration that had allowed him to sleep so peacefully.

He was on an airplane.

Truth be known, Max had traveled by aircraft many times - but had never awoken on one without the slightest idea of where he was - okay, there was that time he fell off the wagon...

Max tried to recall his last memory; they had made it back to Lara's home, and found that her office had been ransacked and her pieces of the artifact missing - as they had feared. Lara began to work on Max's leg as he began rattling off ideas of how they were going to get halfway across the world and into a potential war zone.

At some point he had agreed to be a good boy and pass out - and now he was here...

Through his fuzzy vision and dull ache, Max surveyed his surroundings. A large part of him wished he was on the jet from Goldfinger - but knew that was unlikely.

He was in the dirty cargo area of a prop driven transport, as the noise of the blades was unmistakable. It had to be a fairly large craft, large enough to fit his Subaru into - for it was a scant ten feet from him, unmistakable even without his glasses. Was it a C-130? No, not long enough. Too fat in the middle to be a C-47.

It really didn't matter.

Max sat up in the row of jump seats that served as his bed, his body was not really up to the task, but he did so anyway. When he stood, he noticed that his attire consisted of the same pair of (now bloodied) boxer shorts he had on the other night. On a shelf not far away, Max caught a glimpse of a bright color that had to be one of his shirts - and indeed it was, along with some more of his clothes, glasses, and other items.

The door to the cockpit opened just as Max was unsuccessfully trying to don his pants while the plane bucked under some turbulence. Lara's head appeared in the doorway and seemed surprised to see Max up and about.

"What are doing up?"

"Getting dressed, I don't feel like taking on the Elder and the Russian Army in my undies."

Lara came to her friend, "Let me help you..."

Max shrugged her off, then another bob of the plane made Max loose his balance and fall back into a seat. He used his momentum to propel his feet into the air and slip his pants on.

"Ha! Thought I couldn't do it..."

"Actually, I wanted to check your dressing - how is your leg?"

"Pretty stiff, but I think I'll pull through. How bad does my face look?"

"Not too bad, I wasn't even sure if it was broken - probably just a hairline fracture."

"Hey, some good news..."

"Quite."

"So, you gonna tell me what the hell's going on?"

"Well, as you guessed, we are on our way to Russia, we have about twenty hours before our ETA - with a stop for fuel."

"So we take this bird in and drop the wagon on a sled for a nice, clean insertion?"

"Actually, we're going to be landing in Petropavlask-Kamitchky - at the airport."

Lara's pronunciation of their destination answered Max's next question concerning who would be translating for them, as he was limited to German, Spanish, and 'Where is the men's room?' in most Asian dialects. Those language skills had been more than enough for his past experiences - he had actually never even been to Russia.

"But I wanted to para-drop..." Max whined like a child.

"Maybe next time..." Lara chided.

"Okay. So, ve're on our vay to ze Motherland..." he said in one of the ten worst Russian accents ever heard.

"Yes, we're stopping at an airfield in Khazicstan. From there, it's non-stop to the Kamchatka Peninsula. Mount Koryaksky is only about thirty kilometers north of the city. We drive there and get started."

"I see...now we're takin' _my_ car."

Lara gave a weary sigh.

"Yes. The roads here are not very good, and with my Subaru retired, the only other vehicle I own that can navigate well is the Range Rover - and it is very important that we keep a low profile."

With that, the door to the cockpit opened and burly man entered the cargo area.

"Oy," The large man greeted in a thick Australian accent, "see the cargo is awake."

"Indeed he is," Lara replied. "Max, this is Jon - out pilot."

Jon approached Max and the two shook hands - Max thought the Big Lug from down under was going to rip his arm off, but it ended up remaining firmly in place.

"Pleasure," Jon said as he pumped Max's hand.

"Good to meet you, Jon. Nice plane you've got here."

"Thanks."

"C-119?"

"Yeah, Gee model - with a few modifications 'ere and there."

"My Dad did his share of jumps out of one of these."

"Airborne?"

"Hundred and forty-one jumps - and he'll tell ya about each and every one of 'em."

"Airborne, all right," the man let out a deep, hearty laugh. "I just came back to see if you folks need your toys yet - just realized that I'd locked 'em in place."

"Yes," Lara replied, "I think we are...'

The large man walked to some cargo webbing at the rear of the Subaru and started working. Max turned to Lara.

"What 'toys' did you bring along?"

"I brought my normal kit, the toys are yours."

"My crate came?"

"It arrived as we were preparing for take-off."

"Cool. Guess I've got some work ahead of me here."

"I should think so."

Max went over to assist Jon while Lara watched from a distance. She was taking a awful risk with Max. Her methods had been proven over and over - they worked. However, her plans were orchestrated for a single person only - not for two.

The previous night, she could scarcely remember why she had allowed Max to come along. With his wounds, his presence would make for even more of a diversion - a diversion that could cost Lara dearly. However, she had given him her consent to come along, though things has changed considerably since she had made that decision.

Just after the two had split up to hunt down the intruder, but before Elder's employee had dropped the crates on Lara, she had honestly missed Max. While she found it difficult to trust him on the long walk around the foyer, she noticed that there was something different with him not at her side.

She was not scared when he was with her.

Fear was not something that Lara often dealt with. She was always prudent, cautious, apprehensive, and occasionally even a little jumpy - but she was rarely scared. It happened, Lara was still human, but fear was certainly not the norm for her. Her anger she directed at him by the Impreza wreckage was originally pointed at herself for letting that woman get the drop on her. 

She attributed the appearance of that emotion in the situation to her heightened emotional state of late. While she knew she was just going through a phase, she also knew that it was a potential weakness in the field - something that was unacceptable.

So, there was Max. For whatever reason, his presence helped to stabilize her and, wounded or not, he would be an asset to her. He was also better equipped for a two person party. The thought of Max, in his full camera gear, white-knuckling Lara's waist on the back of her Norton amused her for a moment.

Max and Jon had freed the crate and placed it on the floor of the aircraft. Max let out a relieved sigh and took out his pack of cigarettes. Jon held up a hand.

"Sorry mate, the smoking lamp is out."

Max's hand twitched slightly and he put the cigarette away.

Lara put her hands on her hip. Fear or no fear, it was going to be a very long flight.


	22. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Several hours later, some things had changed in the plane's hold. The Impreza was now fitted with another roof-top carrier that looked just like the one it carried in Central America. When Lara asked about it, Max just giggled and said something about it being 'too good" and walking away. Installing the carrier, in addition to Max smoking several cigarettes at their fuel stop, served to elevate his mood considerably. Max had also traded a pack of his 'Weak American Cigarettes' to one of their escorts on the ground and was now wearing a large, fuzzy Russian military hat. He had made several attempts to do routines from _Fiddler On The Roof_, bit no one on board seemed to care.

Now, Max and Lara both leaned over the hood of the car. She was spreading out maps, photos, and intelligence of the area in which they were headed. Max raised a cautious hand and pointed in the direction of the cockpit.

"Are they okay? Should we wait to do this?"

"No, they are trustworthy."

"You sure, we've both had some bad track records with 'helpers.'"

"Don't worry, I pulled them out of the South Pacific, they are indebted to me."

"It was them with the..." Max lowered his voice, "...dinosaurs?"

"Yes."

"Man, I wish I had some footage of that..."

"For your 'too-real-for-real' reel?"

"Yeah. When this is all done, I'll have you over and we'll watch it - ever seen an alien?"

"Actually, yes."

"You're no fun at all."

"Focus, Max."

"I'm all ears..."

"Good. I've plotted out course up these roads, their conditions is rather poor, but it also means that the roads are not used that often."

"Rally action..."

"You really are in a rut, aren't you?"

"Like it or not, you're gonna be navigating me there - do you know the territory?"

"The territory is right here," Lara gestures to the map before them. "Now, Mount Koryaksky is here, and the coordinates that I have place it in the south-southeast side of the cone - approximately two hundred meters below the surface."

"Whoopee..." interjected Max sarcastically.

"I have some incomplete maps of Koryaksky's lava tubes - we'll have a place to start looking."

"So, when will this thing blow?"

"That's a little complicated. Koryaksky has a pretty constant record of erupting every thirty-odd years."

"The Russian 'Old Faithful.' right?"

"Not really, it's now been forty-two years since it was last active."

"Great."

"The chances of an eruption while we are there are astronomical."

"Sure, but we both tend to dwell in the realm of astronomical chances."

"Granted."

"Hey, let's talk about something we can do something about - how's the fighting going?"

Lara glances at some other papers, preparing for her next portion of the report.

"Afraid there is some good news here. The fighting between splinter groups has been significantly contained to an area a hundred kilometers to the north."

"They could always move things south and heat 'em up."

"Yes...they could. You can remain here if you'd like. I've done this sort before and will be fine alone."

"Sorry, some think me a doom-and-gloomer, I like to think of myself as pragmatic in a charming way."

"Really..."

"Okay, anything else we need to work about up there?"

"Actually, there is. They have quite a lot of..."


	23. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

"...Bears."

Lara holstered her Ingrams - as they posed little threat to the quartet of brown behemoths that bore down on herself and Max. She leapt towards a column of rock, her fingers grasping the top, and pulled herself up. She was in the middle of unslinging her BAR when Max, camera secured on his back, tried to follow her...

And failed.

He smacked into the side of the formation and fell to the floor in a heap. The first of the animals was nearly upon him as Lara hefted the large rifle and pulled the trigger. The recoil of the big weapon threatened to throw Lara from her perch, but she held her ground and sprayed fire into the bear.

It howled in pain and shrank back from Lara's assault, as did the others. This reprieve gave Max the chance to get to his feet, grab Lara's outstretched hand and join her atop the rock formation.

"Thanks. I understand the Jungle Gym now..." he conceded as he readied both camera and sidearm.

"Pity you didn't spend a little more time on it, you might be an appetizer now."

"This is so screwey...bears don't just attack - and they work alone - and HOW IN THE HELL DID THEY GET IN HERE?"

Max referred to the door that they had just come through. It had been a rather uneventful two days for herself and Max. They had landed, made it out of the airport without any difficulty (an envelope passed from Lara to the watch commander made that feat possible) and proceeded up the barely-passable roads to the mountain.

Max had been disappointed in the area. He had expected the Soviet national anthem to be playing constantly from an undisclosed source, and for troops to be goose-stepping all over the place. Instead, he said that it was 'Alaska with crappy cars.'

The trek to the mountain had taken them six hours - largely due to the poor conditions of the roads and the slow speed of the traffic on them. When they were in sight of the steaming mount, Max insisted that they stop and get a picture in front of it. Max pulled a small digital camera from his satchel and set the timer.

The silence of the area was deafening. Lara and Max had started to become increasingly more jumpy as their trek continued - they were constantly expecting an attack which never came. They camouflaged the car inside of a lava tube near the coordinates of the artifact and started inside. They wandered the smooth lava tubes for over a day before coming upon the door, covered in the ancient writing and made of a very strong metal that Max had never seen before.

At least the super-alloy explained how this piece had survived countless eruptions. Lara toiled over the door for a while, as there was no obvious way to open it. They decided to camp for the night, Max having a good deal of trouble sleeping de to the heat and the prospect of sleeping in what was essentially the barrel of a magma gun. However, traipsing though miles of lava tube had worn him more than he wanted to admit, and was soon asleep.

The following 'morning' Max was gearing up, he noticed that one area of the normal rock wall had a much cooler infra red signature - like that of the door. Lara did not seem that thankful for the tip, but soon had the doors open and they stepped inside.

While the lava tubes had been smooth and fairly constant, the area inside the door was very rocky with all types of nooks and crannies to hide in, or on top of...

As they were doing now.

While it was possible for the bears to reach the heightened position where Lara and Max stood, their approach made them perfect targets for firearms - and the fight did not last long. Even Max's managed to eliminate one of their adversaries with his pistol, which now ejected spent cartridges to the left.

When the smoke had cleared, and the ringing ears ceased, Max turned to Lara.

"This place has been sealed forever, how are these bears in here?"

"I find it best not to ask those questions."

"And how in the hell is it light in here - we're a couple hundred feet below ground, for Christ's sake..."

"You'd prefer darkness..." Lara said in accusatory manner.

"No. What now?"

"We press on, of course."

"Of course."

The large chamber in which they had fought the bears bore a single exit, directly opposite their entrance point. The path seemed to lead upwards, Lara paused for a moment, then withdrew a flare from her pack, lit the item, and threw it up the passage.

"Geez, that's bright."

"That's the idea - to see."

"Have you ever heard of a flashlight?"

"Have you ever heard of closing your mouth and running your little camera?"

"Okay. May I ask what you're doing?"

"Looking for traps."

"Don't let me stop you."

Lara turned from Max and continued to study the passage before her. Through her years of this type of work, she had developed a sixth sense about traps, and the hall before her was an excellent place to set something up.

Normally, she would have done a much more casual inspection, but having Max along made things more complicated. He was not nearly as quick as she, nor did he possess her sense and knowledge of trap placements and such.

She was on the verge of allowing a boulder to turn him into a pancake. The man had not stopped whining since they had parked the car. Lara was well aware of the temperature and did not need a constant reminder of the relative heat - they were under a volcano. Then, he had complained about the time that they were spending down there. Lara was prepared to spend a full week searching under Koryaksky - Max was free to leave any time he wished.

Then, he had found the switch to open the door. Lara was an expert in her field and had years of experience - and he just blundered into it. Did he not realize that these moments were the most precious in Lara's life? She was only too aware that there were a finite amount of tomb-esque areas in the world, and that each moment she spent in an unexplored room was beautiful and to be relished - for it may never happen again.

He had cheated her by finding the door switch, and she was not at all amused by that fact.

The corridor was clear, and they proceeded upwards for a while, ultimately coming to a small chamber with a pool of water. Lara placed her pistols in her rucksack and a plastic plug on the muzzle of the BAR.

"Ready for a swim?" she asked.

"In that?" Max pointed into the oily-black water.

"Certainly."

"Not a chance in hell."

"I thought that camera of yours would be waterproof.'

"Oh, it is. There's just no way that I'm going into that - who knows what might be hiding down there."

"The last piece of the device is down there."

"You mean we made it, we're there?"

"I was speaking metaphorically. Think of it as a bath - you certainly could use one."

"You're talking to me about stank? Sister, take a whiff on your side of the room."

"I'm going ahead, you may do whatever you wish," Lara retorted and suddenly stepped into the water. She sank quickly and was out of Max's sight in moments.

Max wondered why Lara could always goad him into doing things that he really didn't want to do, then placed various caps and covers on his camera an jumped in as well.

The water was cold, very cold. Max had been cold before, on numerous occasions, but after entering this pool Max had a new appreciation of the phrase 'bone-chilling." It was as if he had neither skin or clothing on.

Max tried to focus in the water, trying to find Lara in the dark blur that was before him. After a moment, he saw what might have been her swimming towards a light off in what appeared to be the far side of the water. Kicking out, Max proceeded towards his friend.

It was hard to judge the distance across due to the water, but Max was just about out of air when he surfaced on the other side. Lara had already exited the water and was rummaging in her rucksack.

"What?" she said in mock surprise, "are you still there?"

Max was about to respond when he felt something brush his leg. Suddenly, Lara was getting farther away and there was a rush of bubbles in his ears.

Then he took in a lungful of the putrid water.

Max had never been a huge fan of water, especially the things that resided in the water, but his true fear was that of drowning. He had faced his own mortality many times, and still it was struggling to breath under water that kept him awake at night if he thought about it too much.

An now he was going to die - in just that manner.

That fact of his impending demise, however, served to calm him significantly enough that he began to wonder why he was sinking all of a sudden. He looked towards his leg, and saw that there was a pinkish-green tentacle wrapped around it. His eyes followed the member to its source - a very large octopus.

Or was it a squid? Max could not remember which was which, but did manage to recall his multi-tool that was in a belt pouch. He retrieved the item and withdrew the blade as his consciousness was starting to fade away.

With as much force as he could muster against the resistance of water, Max stabbed the tentacle. Gouts of black blood welled from the wound and Max could tell that he had hurt the thing by the way it squeezed his calf. Reaching far into himself, he made another strike at the restraint, but the creature was on to him and the tentacle let go.

Just as Max stabbed himself.

Cursing his poor reaction time, Max swam for the surface, trailing blood from his leg. Max felt like the twenty feet to the surface must have taken hours, but his head soon broke the surface of the water. Lara was still there, but had not grasped the situation.

Max took in a great breath and managed to cough out, "squid!"

Lara rolled her head at him, not amused by his joke - Lara's considerable patience was nearing an end. Then she noticed something moving in the water, approaching her companion.

"MOVE!" she shouted as she raised her twin matching pistols.

Max did a variation of the dog-paddle towards the edge of the pool as Lara opened fire on the thing in the water. He shots hit the water with small splashes, making it difficult to see if her attack was having any appreciable effect or not.

Max's fingers were grasping the shore as her weapons clicked empty. She extender her hand to Max and heaved his dripping form from the water. He was immediately on his knees, coughing up water and delivering a torrent of profanity that almost made Lara blush. When he had gotten his breathing under control, Max turned to Lara, his rage very evident.

"How in the hell do you fight a Goddamn giant squid? Huh? It's not like you can use traditional tactics on the thing! Think we can out-flank the sea monster? How do you do this?"

"Calm down..."

"Were you calm the first time you wrestled a 'gator? Okay, I'm a little pissed of here, but I just had my cherry broke fighting killer animals - and please tell me how, in the name of John Buffum, a giant squid got into a volcano in eastern Russia?"

"I said..."

"I know what you said, 'better not to ask' I know..." Max sat down on the cold stone floor. "Okay...I'm sorry. Believe it or not, in some crap-hole like Bosnia, things make a whole lot more sense - you can anticipate stuff. Here, you can't."

"Yes, you can, but it takes a little experience - you're doing very well."

"Really?"

"Still breathing?"

"Yeah...oh, I get it."

"Shall we be off?"

"Will we have to come back through here?"

"Possibly, it's hard to say."

"All right," Max reached into his vest and removed two grenades. He pulled the pins and dropped them into the water. "Gonna show that thing how I play..."

Both he and Lara stepped back from the water. What seemed an eternity later they felt a vibration and a small geyser of water spurted into the room. A few seconds later, the water got much darker and some pieces of tentacle made their way to the surface.

"Good to know you don't hold a grudge," Lara remarked.

"What did I tell you about the sarcasm?"


	24. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

They could see it, not more than a hundred feet away - the final piece of the artifact.

Lara paused for a moment, just staring at the piece as it rested on a dais at the center of the cavern. At each corner of the podium, a staff-wielding statue stood guard. 

Max stood beside her, camera rolling all the while. After a few seconds, he turned his lens towards the piece, then the statues and scanned the room.

Still, Lara stood there.

"I see the floor trap - is there something else?"

"What?" Lara seemed to have awoken from a trance.

"The break-away floor, I spotted that. Is there something that I am not seeing?"

Max referred to the slightly-discolored pieces of tile that were spaced at intervals across the cavern. In the twelve hours since the squid battle, Lara had given Max an impromptu course in Tomb Raiding. She taught him how to identify traps, when animal attacks were likely - and many other lessons that she had learned the hard way through her life of exploration. He had been a quick study, which made sense when placed in context with the fact that Max was alert and aware to urban threats - he just needed to know what to look for.

Yes, Lara too had spotted the abnormalities in the floor, but that was not why she paused.

"No, I'm enjoying the moment."

"Sorry."

"Don't be. You see, this is it - here is the real reward. There are no crowds here, no bloody rash of people chanting. I made it - when others have not. I am about to be the first person to touch that artifact in maybe thousands of years, it's a hard thing to match back in that world. Also, for every one of these I find, it just might be the last. One day, there will be no more little trinkets to search after - I only hope that I die before that day..."

She suddenly realized what she was saying, and that the moment was being recorded by Max. For the first time that she had met the man, he was speechless. She then saw a slight smile cross his face and Lara realized that Max had gotten what he had come for - the rest was merely filler.

Noticing that Lara was looking at him and not the camera, he broke form for a moment and mouthed the words 'Thank you.' He could not have written a better end for the project. His camera was filled with gold moment after gold moment - pure gold, not the Fox variety. There was Lara's tutorial on survival, their fight with the giant spiders, and even that wild ride down the underground river, and then that speech - he was going to be rich.

More than that, he was going to get out.

Max took a few backwards steps in front of Lara, angling to get the shot.

"Mind the flooring," she warned.

"I'm fine, I just wanted to get something from the front. I've been following you around from the back for so long I forgot what you look like."

"Looking at my bum, have you?"

"It's a dirty job, but..."

Max was cut off by a sound of a single _clank! _from the direction of the artifact. He turned towards the new sound just a as a gold bolt lanced from on of the statues' staves. The blast struck Max, throwing him backwards for twenty feet, until he came into painful contact with the rock wall.

Lara side-jumped into the air, drawing her pistols. She let off a full magazine into the statue, expecting it to come to life, as so many other had...

Nothing...the bullets bounced off of solid, motionless stone. Lara waited another moment to ensure her safety, then ran over to her friend. Her path to Max reminded her far too much of her experiences in Central America - only this time she had more than a passing interest in Max's well-being.

Smoke was rising from his prone form - he did not look good. As she reached him, there was a stench of burning plastic and flesh. The front of Max's vest was charred and blackened with embers still smoking. In places, pieces of his loud shirt, and chest could be seen.

The pattern of the blast seemed much larger than the energy bolt itself - then Lara saw Max's arm. It looked as though his camera rig had taken the brunt of it, as the device was a fuzed hunk of ash - but a hunk that had saved Max's life. Through the holes in his vest, Lara could see the man's chest still moving as he breathed.

This knowledge brought a smile to Lara's face, and she grasped his left hand, gripping it tightly and fighting back a new flood of emotion that threatened to overtake her.

"Max?" she said tentatively as she tapped his hand.

His eyes opened slowly, at first, then shot the rest of the way as he realized that he was still smoldering. His hand jerked out of hers and began to tear at his webbing. As he did so, he made a kind of hissing noise due to the pain he was feeling.

With Lara's help, Max was soon bear-chested and breathing a little easier. Max looked at her with eyes that almost did not recognize her, then he seemed to gain a little more focus and understanding came to his eyes.

"My glasses..." his voice was almost that of a young child.

Lara scanned the area and saw them lying near the camera wreckage - still attached by their cable. She scooped them up, pulled the cord and placed them upon his nose.

"There you are..."

In response to Lara, Max sniffed the air a couple of times.

"Sum'thin' smells..." he murmured as he looked down at his chest. His head remained down for a few moments. To Lara, it looked as though he had passed out, but Max's face soon met Lara's.

His eyes were watery, and the first of tears began to fall down his cheeks as he began to sob. Lara had never felt so utterly helpless in her life. She quickly removed her rucksack and began to rummage for a first aid kit - more out of a need to be doing something, anything but watching Max in his state. There was no telling what type of injuries that he may have sustained, what with the energy blast and the collision with a rock wall.

Max now let his head fall backwards.

"Oh, God, not now...I was gonna do something good - I was so close. Not out here, I know I deserve less - I didn't mean to!"

"Calm down, Max," Lara said comfortingly as she got out a syringe of pain-killer.

"Shelia," Max said as he looked at Lara, "Shelia, I'm so sorry..."

"It's all right, you just relax. Here..."

Lara moved the syringe towards Max, but he brushed it away.

"No...I mean - I'm sorry for all of it. I didn't want to, but it was all I ever did okay...and she and I never did it..."

"Of course you didn't."

"See, you always say that - but I mean it. I'm gonna die here, and I wouldn't lie...not now."

Lara found his vein and gave him the shot.

"There, now just relax..."

"Sorry..." Max said as he looked off for a moment, then back, but with much more weary eyes. 

"Lara?"

"Yes."

"Had a weird dream..."

"I'm sure you did."

"I feel weird..."

"I know, just relax."

Lara looked over her patient again. The burns on his chest and arm were already starting to ooze, so she broke out some bandages and started to dress his wounds. When she was finished, Max was nodding off, she slapped him lightly on the cheek and his eyes lazily opened. Lara raised two fingers in a 'V' for Victory sign.

"Max, how many fingers do you see?"

A strained, yet mischievous smile started to form on his face as he raised both of his middle fingers towards Lara. She sighed in relief, if he was well enough to make obscene gestures, there was hope.

She kept him talking for hours as he slipped in and out of coherent speech - at one point he even accused her of taking his bicycle. Finally, with nothing more she could do, she allowed him to pass out and Lara Croft was left all alone in the ancient chamber.

Normally, there would have been nothing wrong with that situation, but this was not a normal moment for her. Had Max not been there, she would have been hit by the blast. Not having a camera or body armor, she would not have survived.

But there was a part of her that would have readily traded places with Max, to save the life if her friend. 

With her calm slowly returning to her, Lara was shocked at the melodramatic nature of her thoughts - she had forgotten all about her goal, which was still in sight. Part of her was shocked that she could worry about some artifact when her friend was barely alive in a heap - but she had been the Tomb Raider for too long.

There as another rationale for her to get the artifact. Often, when the reason for a tomb's existence was procured, an easy exit was often afforded.

Or that place came down upon you...

But the pieces of this relic were meant to be found, the builders were trying to keep the wrong people out - not everyone. That fact should mean the critical difference.

She carefully approached the spot where she was standing when Max was hit by the blast.

Nothing.

She picked up several spent shell casings from the stone floor - her weapons had dropped them when she retaliated against the statues. Taking quick aim, she tossed one of the brass cylinders near Max's previous position around the break-away flooring. The small object bounced once... 

And never hit the ground again.

There was a flash and all that remained of the casing was a black burn on the floor. Lara then began trying to find a 'safe zone' by throwing the casings before her so test given areas. Each one of the objects were incinerated by the yellow energy.

Lara was about to give up and check the room for a switch when her frustration got the better of her, and she missed her mark. The casing landed on one of the collapsing floor pieces, bounced, and came to a rest on top - too light an item to trigger the trap.

A plan began to form in Lara's mind. She threw her last casing at another of the trapped tiles, it bounced safely, but hit the other section of flooring and was instantly obliterated by another blast.

Smiling, Lara took a step back, then ran forward, jumping for the closest floor trap. She landed gracefully in the center of the tile, then vaulted into the air before it cracked and fell...

She never heard it hit the ground.

Half a dozen of these advances placed her on the dais, the backs of all four of the statues faced her. Knowing what these guardians were capable of, Lara almost wished that Elder would come bursting in at that moment. Just for once, Lara wanted to have the advantage on her side, and not that of the enemy.

Of course, it was not to be. No one disturbed the silence of the room. Lara reached down and picked up the last piece of the artifact.

There was an immediate reaction on the part of the room. Unseen machinery clanked and hummed as the tiles that Lara had tripped were replaced. Pitching out the last of her spent casings, Lara determined that the energy blast had been neutralized.

As she walked through back over the, now safe, area, Lara looked about for some kind of exit. What she did find was that the tunnel through which they had entered was no longer open. As Lara approached the opening in the rock, she saw that approximately a meter in, a smooth rock wall had fallen, sealing them in.

The seeds of panic were starting to take root in Lara when another detail was noticed. At the point where the doorway met the room, there was a very slight, very straight crack in the floor.

Lara suddenly understood and walked back to her sleeping friend.


	25. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

The elevator had placed them at the base of the volcano. Max's car was not on the complete other side of the mountain from their location, but it was going to be a fairly long hike to get back there.

Lara set out, with Max on her shoulders. Even with the vast majority of his gear back in the statue room, Max was still not a light man. The air was chilly, and the wind cut through the both of them. Max and Lara ad worn jackets when they had first arrived, but soon abandoned them in the car due to the great heat in there.

Now, Lara would have paid ten thousands pounds to have her bomber with her. Max could well develop hypothermia or frost bite if she did not get him under shelter - and soon. She would have left him in the warm chamber, or covered him in a crevasse, out of the wind - she was only risking moving him for one all-important reason.

After Lara had gotten the piece and translated the coordinates, she found that Max's GPS system had been damaged beyond her ability to repair. She had just gotten a good idea of Elder's position on her map when the symbols on both sides had changed again - as Elder approached.

Lara wondered why Elder would bring all of the other pieces with her, but would be glad to take them off of her hands when the time came...

However, there were more pressing matters. Lara had to get Max back to his car and out of there, because Elder surely knew exactly where they were and was going to intercept. Lara just hoped that the little wagon was fast enough...

About half way through their journey to the car, Lara realized that she was fighting a losing battle. The sun was setting, and night would soon be upon them. Normally, the prospect of a chilly night on the mountain would have posed little more than discomfort for the Tomb Raider.

But the Tomb Raider was not alone.

Max had been unconscious for hours, and there was a very real chance that he could freeze to death in the harsh night. They were not going to be able to make it to the car, her map indicated no lave tubes in the vicinity and Lara could not leave Max to brave the elements alone.

They would have to spend the night outside.

Lara lowered Max form to the ground as easily as she could. Her arms instinctively rose into the air now that they were free of Max's encumbrance. She spent several minutes scouting out the surrounding area. Hoping to find a lava tube the map did not contain, she found only a small fissure that would provide some protection from the harsh winds.

Once again, she hefted Max's limp form and carried him to their makeshift quarters for the evening. She placed him on a small outcropping that served as a primitive seat for her friend. From her rucksack, Lara removed her recently-aquired piece of artifact and placed the warm object near the small of Max's back.

The unnatural heat of the relic insulated Max's back against the cold rock. Lara double-checked his feet, making sure that his boots - which had hit her in the face repeatedly as she carried him - were still there. Secure that Max's feel would be warm enough, she sat down to secure his other extremities.

Straddling him, Lara placed Max's hands under her own armpits, then wrapped her arms around his head, puling it in under her chin. A blanket would have made her job much easier, but there was not time to fetch one from the car.

Lara shivered slightly as the first truly cold gust of wind blew in from behind. She drew Max in tighter, sharing their warmth.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Despite the exhaustion that Max suffered from and the injuries that he had sustained, there were still higher callings, something so primal that it shattered his peaceful rest.

Max's eyelids wearily raised themselves. There was only darkness before him. Upon raising his head, Max saw lights shimmering and pulsating above him. It was as if the ghosts of a million people were visible and marching in formation.

"The Northern Lights," Lara informed him.

Max had been so taken with the atmospheric phenomenon that he had not even realized that he was locked in an embrace with Lara Croft.

"Amazing," Max felt utterly inadequate to describe the event. "For a second, I thought I was dead."

"You're very much alive," Lara confirmed.

She shifted her weight slightly and Max became very aware that his hands were in her armpits, and as a result, his wrists were pressing against the sides of her breasts. He also felt that her hands were linked together behind his neck

The two were close, very close.

Max looked up from Lara's chest and into her eyes. The lights in the sky had left him unable to read the expression on her face, but he could tell that her eyes were meeting his.

He could feel it.

The sat there motionless for a few moments, their bodies intertwined but the six inches that separated their noses was a very, very long distance. The length of a pen could change their lives forever.

And then it happened.

Max let out some type snort. It the moment that it was happening, Lara's mind raced with the possibilities of horrible things that could be happening to her friend.

Then she saw the smile across his face, and the two broke out laughing on the side of the lonely volcano. With their first laugh behind them, a chain reaction began as the tension of the previous days bled away. Soon, both of their bodies were shaking as deep chuckles overcame them.

After over a minute, their giggling subsided and a strange, relaxed silence fell between them. It was Max who broke it.

"I should want this...I mean, I know it's wrong and all that, but..."

"I know what you mean."

"Is this what it's like to have a sibling?"

"I don't know - I'm an only child."

"Me too."

"Strange..."

"Think I'll call you 'Big Sis' from here on out."

"Do it and I'll but a bullet through your big toe."

"Christ, listen to us, you'd think we were separated at birth."

"Speak for yourself."

"Oh, yeah - I remember just why I woke up - would you mind getting off of me?"

In a moment Lara knew Max's thoughts and she rose so that he could get to shaky feet and walked a short distance away. Lara turned away to give him some privacy and awaited his return. In what seemed a great while, he managed to return form a small plume of steam to their spot. They quickly huddled together again for warmth.

"Man, I had to go so bad I could taste it..."

"Why do you have to make such an event of your goings to the rest room?"

"That's what a brother's for..."

"Stop saying that."

"Whatever you say..."

Lara began to relax for a moment, then Max added...

"...Big Sister."

Lara's hands tightened around Max's throat.

"Max, I'm surprised at you. Being married, you should know that you never, never refer to a woman as 'Big' anything. Theresults can be rather hazardous to your health - and you're several years my senior!"

The best Max could manage was a little grunt/whimper. Lara released his throat and he took in a deep breath of air.

"Jesus Lara, even knowing you is 'rather hazardous to my health.' Let's see, we started off with gunshots, then a couple of slow songs danced on my boys, then off to your Jungle Gym of Death - let is not forget the broken nose, the grenade, or the big hunka' something that diced my leg, then I stabbed myself good with the little squid incident. Then, all seems well and safe when some ancient blaster staff turns my camera into slag and my chest into medium rare. What the hell else can you do to me?"

"You haven't been poisoned yet."

"Remember what those beans did while they were inside of me?"

"I stand corrected. How does your wife put up with you?"

"She's got this two-by-four with rusty nails driven through it. If I get out of line - WHACK!"

"Sounds pleasant. Shame she hasn't knocked any common sense into you yet..."

"Good one."

"Indeed."

"What about you?"

"What?"

"What do you mean, 'what,' - you have any plans to settle down with someone?"

"You mean a man?"

"Hey, man...woman, I'm cool with anything - which ever way your door swings..."

"My, you're sensibilities are positively European."

"Yeah, yeah...I just mean that you might be a little better having something to come home to. Hell, even a dog, or a plant - whatever does it for you. Ever think about getting hitched?"

"I was engaged once."

"You didn't make beans for him, did you?"

Lara's eyes pivoted down and away from Max's.

"No, that was before..."

"Oh."

"I don't honestly think I could get that close, not anymore...not with what I do..."

"Yeah, most of the guys in my line of work are going on their third and fourth marriages."

"I never really understood why..."

"Well, you always come back to that big 'ol empty mansion. It's a whole other thing when you can get home and see just why you spend the last three weeks flogging through a swamp being shot at."

"I've got Winston."

"Very true, but I think that I am safe here in saying that you need Winston - but he really doesn't need you..."

"Pardon?"

"Don't get me wrong, I can tell that old guy loves you to death, but if you were not there, he would have a life of his own."

"I assume that there is a point your little speech?"

"Who knows? You've got almost everything that any person could want - but no one to miss you if you don't come back."

Lara was silent.

"I mean, sure, there might not be any more original Lara Croft books - but they made plenty of Bond movies after Fleming was dead - you do know about James Bond, don't you?"

"Yes," he voice was annoyed, but very subdued, "I know about him."

"Okay then, you cash in the big one in the middle of some God-forsaken jungle, no one to miss the real you, only the cardboard cutout - that still peddles the game and the books even though you're worm food in the Congo..."

"What makes you think that I care?"

"Hell, I might be wrong here, you are a human being. Being needed is kind of an innate thing - I can check my old psych text when we get back for all of the technical terminology."

"Don't trouble yourself."

"Hey Lara?"

"Yes?"

"I'd miss ya..."

Despite the cold; both inside and out, Lara smiled.

Max removed his hands from her pits and tapped about his remaining pockets.

"What?" Lara asked.

"Wondering if my smokes made it...."

"No, they were incinerated along with your tapes."

"Damn, I gotta start putting those things in a different pocket. Don't suppose you have one on you, you do owe me two cartons?"

"You forgave that debt."

"Yeah, I know..."

Lara opened her pack and removed a pack of cigarettes and some waterproof matches.

"You know you smoke too much," she lectured as she turned the items over.

"We all need a vice."

Max went through his packing ritual and lit up, Lara turning away while he smoked to preserve her night vision.


	26. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Dawn brought with it the rolling thunder and gray clouds of an approaching storm, but provided much needed warmth for the couple.

Lara ate a ration quickly and then did some short-range scouting to find the easiest route back to the car - and to look for Elder's crew. When she returned to Max, he was eating slowly, his swallows seeming to cause him pain.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Been better," Max replied as he managed to down the last piece of what he called his 'healthy-crap-bar' and winced as he did so. "Think I just stumbled onto a great new diet - just associate pain and eating, loose a pound an hour. Wanna' be on my infomercial?"

"Absolutely."

"Christ, do I look that bad?"

"Pardon?"

"You're agreeing with me like I'm on my death bed. Stop being nice to me - it really throws me off..."

"As you say..."

Max turned to Lara and saw a slight smirk on her face. He chuckled in reply, closing his eyes against the pain.

"Hurts to laugh."

"Let me see..." Lara ordered as she removed his dressing. When she got to the last layer of bandage, the first few layers of new skin were torn off as they had grown into the material. Max let out a hiss and flinched slightly as she did so.

The area of Max's chest was pitted and oozing all manner of pus, blood and watery substances - all of which merged to form a sickly pink substance. Max had made it through the really difficult part, surviving the shock of his injuries, but there were still trials to go through. The pain and itching that Max would feel as his body repaired itself would be quite uncomfortable - as Lara knew from experience, there were few things more painful than burns.

As she re-dressed the wound, Max stared at his ravaged chest.

"There goes my shot at a Calvin Klein model..."

"Want some more for the pain?"

"Naw, got a nice balance between chest lava and the biggest hang-over I ever had."

"Probably a concussion."

"You think?" Max asked in a sarcastic manner, recoiling in pain at the giggle that followed.

"We'd best get you back to your auto before the storm hits."

"We won't get any of it."

"Why not?"

"Magic knee, Big Sis. Tells me what the weather's gonna do before it happens..."

"Your wife hit you with that big stick of hers?"

"Naw, old high school injury."

"Football?"

"Drama club. Take a little advice, learn how to fall correctly on stage, or you'll regret ot for the rest of your life..."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"There we go, just placate and shut me up, none of this agreeing with me crap."

"Shall we get moving, then?"

"We shall."

Lara wrapped Max's arm over her shoulder so that he could lean on her and they started off towards their goal. They had gone no more than six or seven meters when Max stopped walking and doubled over.

Lara turned to him and tried to get him upright again, realizing her mistake a split second too late. She had just turned him to face her when Max's healthy-crap-bar and everything else he had eaten recently found its way onto Lara's leotard.

Max raised his head and managed to mouth 'I'm sorry' to Lara before she set him gently on the ground. There was little she could do at the moment. His retch was largely liquid and was absorbing into her clothing at an alarming rate. She resigned herself to borrowing another of Max's shirts when they got back to the car.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah, I don't know what to say - I'm really sorry."

"Accepted."

"Guess it's just a little revenge for the shooting and the nut-crunching."

"You've had a bad knock on the head, nausea is to be expected."

"Yeah, but I haven't done the whole technicolor yawn in like twelve years."

"Perhaps today is a special day..."

"Maybe, but I think I'll be happy when it's over."

Lara took Max's arm again and they headed out across the mountain.

* * *

Three hours later found the duo very close to their destination, yet they hid behind a short ridge line. Before them rested half a dozen large trucks, twice as many tents, and other assorted bivouac equipment. Several soldiers had stood watch at sentry posts.

Lara peeked over the lip of a small fissure, straining to make out details of the encampment. Next to her, Max lay on his back with weapon drawn - as though he were in any condition to put up much of a fight.

"How many?" he asked.

"Three on rotating watch, I think I saw four others - it's hard to tell at this distance."

"All the crap you bring along...did you ever think about a pair of binocs?"

"Well someone told me that their awe-inspiring camera could see just about anything, so I didn't worry about it."

"Sorry. Did they find the car?"

"I can't see it, so they haven't pulled it out if they have...I think that it at least a hundred meters on the other side of their camp."

"Got a plan?"

"Possibly."

"Wanna hear mine?"

"Of course."

"Okay, you run interference while I sneak around and get the car. There's no way they can catch us in those beasts."

"How about this: I sneak around and get the car, and you keep you bum planted here."

"I like my plan better."

"If you so much as try to get up, I will pistol-whip you on your drama club knee, understand?"

"Fine. I've got a key hidden under the front bumper, driver's side. It's just behind the stock fog light fitting. On the remote, to disable to alarm silently, hit the right button twice and then the left one once - you got all that?"

"Driver's fog, right twice, then left."

"Just remember, it's a car, not a toy, and it should be treated that way."

"I won't put a scratch on it..."

"Good. Now, there's one more thing that you might find useful, a little jobber that I built myself..."


	27. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

The cargo area of one of the empty transport had been transformed into a makeshift office for Elder. She sat on a small stool before a folding table, sipping coffee as she worked.

The table bore her laptop computer, connected to several instruments by a series of wires, a carafe of coffee, and the other four pieces of the artifact. After being joined, their shape was that of an odd pentagon, with a side missing. On either side of the missing piece were identical symbols, symbols that were currently displayed on Elder's computer screen, with the translated coordinates in appearing in another window.

She swept a lock of blond out of her face, re-applying a barrette so that it remained out of the way. She then opened up a map of the area and traced her fingers from the latitude and longitude, her digits meeting and her eyes narrowing.

Lara was close, very close.

The coordinate system of the artifact provided very accurate positions - up to three hundred meters. Elder's foe was well within that area, but her exact location was unknown.

From her belt, she pulled a small radio and transmitted.

"Horch, come in."

Nothing.

She fought back the initial panic that threatened to set in. This was not the first time she had dealt with Lara Croft, and she thought she had conveyed to her employees that the Tomb Raider was not to be underestimated under any circumstances.

Elder could almost see the Horch's radio, her own voice coming over an earpiece that was attached to a corpse. He, and all of the others, murdered by the vengeful Lara Croft.

"Horch, respond."

"Stand by..." came back over the radio.

While pleased that her long-time associate was still alive, there was impatience and a little anger towards him. Employers tell their employees what to do, not the other way around, and Horch knew that.

Horch, after all, was a professional.

That fact was what stopped her from delivering a verbal reprimand to him. If he was not able to speak at to her, he must have a very, very good reason. Perhaps a reason more important that the Tomb Raider's close proximity had the large German's attention.

There was a few more moments of absolute silence.

"Horch here, over."

"Be advised, Croft is near, take the necessary precautions."

"I have her, ma'am - over."

"Say again?"

"I have Miss Croft in my custody, over"

Elder paused a moment in amazement. Whatever small fortune she was paying Horch for this trip would have to be raised.

"Bring her to me," she ordered with a smile - she had always wanted to speak those words to an underling.

"Acknoledged...out."

Working quickly, Elder placed a crate before her table, then took her seat again. For a moment, she wished that she had brought a more proper chair so that she could swivel around to face Lara as she was brought before her.

True, that was somewhat cliché, but she was honestly excited about Lara's capture and getting the last piece of the artifact. Finally, she would take back what Lara had stolen so long ago...

There was a knock on the metal body of the truck. Horch was impeccably polite and courteous, yet knew more ways to kill a person than anyone Elder had ever met.

"Come," she ordered.

The canvas flap was pulled outwards and Lara Croft, hands bound behind her, was hefted into the makeshift office. Horch was behind her in an instant, guiding her to a seated position on the crate.

Elder was about to give a speech she had been rehearsing for years, when something extremely offensive found it's way to her nose.

"What is that smell?"

"Bile, ma'am, that's how I found her."

"Supper not agree with you?"

"It's not my vomit," was all Lara said.

No one spoke for a moment.

"Yes, that camera man of yours, never thought you'd take a partner like that. Where is he, no doubt planning some dramatic rescue."

"He's dead."

"Pardon me if I don't take your word for it."

"If he were still alive, nothing would have stopped him from filming this little confrontation here, nothing at all."

"Perhaps he's standing guard over the last piece, eh?" Elder turned to Horch, who remained two paces from Lara, hand lying gently on his MP5, "was the piece with her?"

"All she had were a set of M-11's and a BAR."

"Ah, must be Fernando's weapon."

"I believe so, ma'am."

"He was a good man."

"Aren't they all good after they're dead?" Lara asked.

"Quite."

"So, how long are you going to grandstand before your man puts a bullet in my head?"

Elder smiled. "Lara, if I wanted to you dead, Lynn could have slit your throat quite easily while you slept."

"Was she a good man too?"

"As a matter of fact, she was among the best thieves I have ever met. Very impressive, the way you gunned down an unarmed woman."

"I thought she was you..."

"Sorry to disappoint you. However, you did save me from paying the other half of her compensation, thank you for that."

"So, if it's not my death, what are you after?"

"What I've always wanted, Miss Croft. I want you alive and beaten, not dead and martyred - though that can be arranged. I want you to publicly say that I have beaten you, announce it to the world. You stole my life, and now I want yours as compensation - but I'd love it of you were still around to regret it."

"You just want me to admit that you've beaten me?"

"Yes - publicly and sincerely."

"All right."

"Don't be so quick to agree, do you have any idea what that admission would do to the great Lara Croft? Children might not idolize you any longer, sales of those ridiculous games might falter, and you can forget all about that university fellowship."

"I understand," Lara replied, for the first time getting honestly scared, not for the potential loss of notoriety and revenue, but for the fact the Elder was stark, raving mad - and therefore unpredictable.

Lara had assumed that Elder, as the series of competitors who had preceded her, was motivated by greed or something of a similar nature. The mission of publicly humiliating Lara was both ridiculous and utterly unexpected. What Elder failed to realize was that the thing she sought to take from Lara - for whatever the reason - was not something that Lara placed any value in. Lara would almost prefer to work in a little more anonymity.

"I'll do as you ask."

"Your word?"

"You have my word."

"And no escape attempts?"

"Max was my ride out of here, I don't fancy walking down from this mountain. I'd rather ride."

"Your word on that, too?"

"Yes, you have my word."

A big smile spread across Elder's face. "Wonderful! Horch, get everyone ready to go - as soon as you tell us where that last piece is."

"I stuffed it into a small vent thirty meters north-west of your camp."

"Horch."

The man spoke softly into his radio, no doubt sending a search party.

"Would you mind if I freshened up a bit?" Lara asked, tipping her head to the large, foul-smelling stain on her top.

Elder paused for a moment, as if sizing the Tomb Raider up.

"Certainly," She moved to a set of duffels that rested under her cot and removed a shirt and a pair of trousers, "I think our fair little princess is having a little trouble here..."

She tossed the clothing onto her desk and moved to the opening.

"Watch her, Horch."

The large man nodded in his employers direction, not taking his eyes off of Lara as Elder exited the truck on her fool's errand.

This left Lara alone with the mercenary. They looked into each other's eyes for a split second, then Lara turned her back to him and raiser her bound hands.

"Could we do something about these? I am a guest now, after all."

Horch's brow narrowed slightly, while his boss was clearly a lunatic, he was nothing of the sort. He raised his MP-5 at Lara with one hand and drew a bayonet with the other. With his gun trained on Lara, Horch slid the blade between her wrist and the zip tie, the blade slicing the plastic with no apparent difficulty.

Freed from her bonds, Lara rubbed her wrists for theatrical value - though she seriously doubted that her attempt to appear weak had any influence on the probing eyes of her captor. She was merely playing her part in a plan that had to work.

Had Lara been alone, she probably would have cooperated with Elder's wishes, even giving her the last piece. Lara had a knack for getting artifacts back from those who had stolen from her. However, she was very decidedly not alone. Were she to leave this place with Elder, there was little chance of Max making it back to the car by himself, much less getting out of a country in which he was a stranger.

Part of Lara recoiled against the fact that she was going to escape even though she had giver her word that she would not. In the past, Lara had used the strictest sense of her "word" to play with some of her more foolish competition, but this Horch was no fool. Words of her father rolled about in her brain about honor and loyalty - words that she had learned to disregard years before...

Lara briefly courted the idea of sending Elder for her friend, but at that point, Elder would have something that did matter toLara. There was a realistic possibility that she would just kill Max in order to hurt Lara more.

That was a possibility that the Tomb Raider would not allow.

She scooped up the clothing from the desk, noting that Elder had left the remaining pieces of the artifact there. With new attire in hand, she turned to Horch, giving him a look that suggested he give her some privacy in which to change.

He gave her a look back that suggested she not even bother asking.

Without hesitation, her hands reached down began to pull up her top. At the moment her breasts were revealed, the options of the typical male would be limited: stare at her breasts or look away in embarrassment. Lara preyed that Horch had not survived so much that a shapely female form was not enough to affect him.

She removed the top rather slowly, delaying the moment when the fabric of her top would obscure her vision and her plan would fail.

With the barest of moments left to spare, Horch's eyes instinctively lowered to the ground. Lara leapt at the man, covering half of the two meters that separated them before his eyes returned. Her right foot found purchase on the ground and her left came forward in a devastating jab at Horch's crotch.

The large German had long ago learned the price of being careless or foolhardy. He had known that Lara would make a move, and had given her the illusion of a opportunity to do it so that he could control the situation. He did give grudging respect to the Tomb Raider for creatively using her feminine wiles, but he was a professional, no matter how physically attractive his prisoner was.

Horch shifted his weight into Lara's blow, lowering his arm to block her attack. A split second after realizing she was feigning her kick he was hit squarely in the nose. His block even served to amplify the force of her hit as a distinct _crack_ was heard. His eyes closed and began to tear up, as was the annoying nature of nasal impact, but Horch kept his head about him, even as he felt his submachine gun being grabbed.

On his worst day, Horch was stronger than Lara, it was a simple fact. His right hand tightened on the grip, not allowing the weapon to be taken from him. With his left, he managed to strike with a jab that found purchase in Lara's ribs, but it was not nearly enough to topple her. Even as he completed the blow, he tightened his ribs in anticipation of a another attack from Lara.

He realized his second mistake as he felt not a physical blow, but a tugging at his webbing. Managing to open his eyes, he saw her strike at him with the bayonet while still holding onto the foregrip of the MP5. His neck went suddenly numb, and Horch knew it was over. His thoughts were not of a last-breath vengeance killing, though. As the life drained out of him, he swore that he could see his father, who had died long ago believing his only son a hero. That image was soon replaced by a montage of other faces, those who had fallen because of the life that Horch had chosen. There was no feeling in his hand as Lara claimed the MP5, there was only a fading away to nothingness...

* * *

Several minutes later, a figure emerged from the truck. While wearing the fatigues that other members of the group bore, a close inspection revealed that they were not only ridiculously too large for the wearer, but also bore a good amount of blood.

A quick glance about her revealed that most of Elder's party were to the south. She headed north, towards the Subaru.

While the location of her weapons was unknown (apparently, the late Horch did not leave them in a frighteningly convenient location for her to find) she was carrying the MP5, and wore a Sig P226 pistol in a holster. If she had the slightest bit of good fortune, she would be able to slip out of the came easily and get to the car.

The closest sentry was over two hundred meters away and either did not notice, or did not care that she was heading away from camp. Over Horch's headset, she heard status reports from the search parties as they continued to look for the final piece of the artifact. Little did they know the the item was safely tucked away in Lara's webbing.

She was less than fifty meters from the vent that housed the car. Lara allowed herself a small congratulations for escaping the camp without firing a shot, but stopped short as a noise caught her attention.

The car was starting.

From the hurried talk on the radio, the others had heard it as well and were heading in towards them. Lara broke into a run towards the vent, just as the Impreza was vaulted out of it...

...and accelerated directly towards her.

Realizing the situation, Lara discarded her headgear and waved her arms in the air. The nose of the car dipped as it came to a rest a few meters before her.

"Hey, I was supposed to be rescuing you..." Max shouted from the driver's seat.

"I had the situation well in hand," she replied as she approached the wagon.

"Can't blame a little brother for trying..."


	28. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Lara quickly opened the door and took the seat next to her friend. Despite the flip comment upon his arrival, he did not look good.

Even though he had donned his leather jacket, Lara could still see remnants of his shirt and dressing that were soaked through with sweat. Max's face was frighteningly pale as well. Lara needed to get him to a proper hospital in rather short order, or this film about her may well be his last.

"How are you?" she asked, with genuine concern on her face and in her voice.

"Not real great..."

"Let's get moving, shall we?"

"Hafta' take are of a little something first..." Max replied weakly as he reached under a position of the dash and flipped a switch. A slight vibration could be felt as he did so. Lara looked to Max.

"My little toy on the roof - time for a test...:

Lara poked her head out of the window and saw that the innocent-looking luggage carrier had grown some rather impressive teeth. Fake panels in either side of the carrier had opened and a cylindrical rocket pod now adorned each side. Each of the pods carried six individual rockets.

"They're FFAR's," Max informed her, "the same thing that bird was shooting at in the jungle."

"Yes, Folding Fin Aerial Rockets."

"Thank you Ms. Acronym."

"I've played with more toys that you have."

"I sit corrected. Let's do a little damage..."

Max pulled the car ahead and began to line it up, using a small video monitor in the dash to aim. He jerked the car forward a few times, steering from left to right, trying to line up his shot.

To Lara, who was still under an intense adrenaline rush from her escape a few short minutes earlier, Max's sighting was taking an eternity that they did not have to spare.

"Forget about this, let's move."

"Come on..." Max taunted the monitor.

"Drive, they could never catch us in those lorries."

"I know, but I've been dying to try this out - and this may be the only footage that we get on this whole deal."

"You're recording this?"

"Damn straight..."

Lara was on the verge of commentating, when she noticed the lone guard she had fooled during her escape. He was running in the direction of the Subaru, AK-47 at the ready.

"Go, now!" Lara ordered as she shouldered her MP5. She fired a long burst at the guard, and he went down. Whether he was taking cover or was hit, Lara could not tell at this extreme range.

"Got it!" Max exclaimed and pulled on the cruise control stalk. There was a loud noise, a shimmy, and then a blinding light. Looking out the windshield, Lara just made out twin smoke trails as the first lorry exploded. The high explosive warheads both detonated in the covered cargo area of the truck, the force of the explosion tipping the large vehicle over on to its side. A moment later, the sound of the firestorm reached the little station wagon.

"There, you got to try out your contraption, get out of here before the others return."

Max engaged the transmission and began to pull out of the area, muttering, "fine aiming is really bad, I'll need to get some kind of gimbal system on the pods - just a couple of degrees here and there..."

They were back on the narrow "road" that led down the mountain.

"Worry about it later - drive now."

"Aw, come on..from here on out we've got smooth...aw hell!"

Down the road rested a Russian BRDM armored personnel carrier. The four-wheeled behemoth had been parked sideways on the road, making it very difficult to get past it. On one side was a steep incline, the other, a hundred foot drop to the road below.

"Elder planned for this," Lara noted with a hint of respect.

"Yeah, but not this..." Max pulled on the cruise lever again.

This time, Lara shielded her eyes.

Due to the curve of the road, one of the rockets went wide, accelerating past the APC, but the other struck the armored front of the vehicle. The gunner manning the top machine gun never had a chance to fire at them as the concussion of the blast threw him into the unyielding rock wall and landing in a clump.

Max applied the brakes quickly, "we're gonna have to move that thing - only way around is down there..."

"I've got it."

"Got your back."

"Just try not to vomit all over yourself while you do."

"Just move the damn thing.."

Lara unbuckled herself from the harness and exited the car. She retracted the shoulder stock on the MP5 for easier use in close confines of the APC. After surveying the silent vehicle for a moment, Lara leapt to the top, intending to enter through the gunner's hatch.

There was no sound from inside, and she dropped through the open passage.

Max watched keenly as he unlatched his restraints. With his eyes on the BRDM, her reached behind him and withdrew a fearsome-looking weapon. It bore a passing resemblance to the Colt M-16, with a carrying handle atop and plastic grips. However, this rifle had a much wider muddle and a very large drum magazine - like the classic gangster's Thompson. Max chambered a round into the large weapon and got out of the car.

He could hear Lara milling about inside of the Russian vehicle, and could just make out a few curses. He was just on the verge of smiling when a motion off to his right made him instinctively duck. His action was rewarded by the several short cracks of pistol fire, followed closely by the sound of slugs penetrating the opposite fender of the wagon.

Now Max did smile.

Soon, there as a break in the shooting. Waiting a moment, he rose as quickly as possible, bringing his USAS-12 to bear.

He had timed it perfectly, the wounded gunner was just coming from behind the cover of the rear of the BRDM as Max opened fire.

The sound of the fully automatic shotgun was more that of a transmission failing than a firearm - but the effect was far more deadly. in a second, ten rounds of buckshot had been fired at the hapless gunner (who was already having a very bad day). Given the short range of the exchange, aiming was entirely optional, and as Max recovered from the massive recoil of the weapon, the perforated carcass of the gunner slammed (once again) into the rock wall - never to rise again.

A small viewport near the driver's area of the APC opened, and Max could just Make out Lara's red-tinted sunglasses resting down on her nose.

"What are you doing out there? What is that?!?"

"I told you about my scatter-gun..."

"The controls are frozen in here, I can't even get it into neutral."

"That's not good..."

Max was just started hearing the rumble of the approaching trucks. Obviously, it hadn't taken long for Elder to give them chase.

"Forget that thing, we've got bigger problems."

Lara vacated the impotent controls of the APC and made her way back to the roof, just in time to see the little Subaru start up and begin to back up the road. For a brief moment, Lara was incensed. Her rage came partially from the thought of her friend leaving her, and partially from his choice of escape routes - back towards the enemy.

Then Max cut the wheel, bringing the car's front end around. The front tires came dangerously close to the edge of the road, but held fast with the Impreza now pointing in the opposite direction. Lara saw the white back-ups glow as Max brought the car into position.

Jumping down to the road. Lara opened the passenger door and used is as cover.

"Are they coming?" she asked.

"Naw, just felt like flippin' a bitch, that's all."

Lara was unaware of the meaning of Max's expression, but even if it were an insult, there seemed to be little time and point to dealing with the rumpled cameraman.

"Can't we just push it out of the way?" she thought aloud.

"That thing outweighs me by at least...seven times - we'd just blow an engine and ruin a set of tires."

"So we hold here?"

"If we get lucky, they will send the trucks on at a time, and we can just pick 'em off with the old rockets."

"If we get lucky..."

"Hey, it's gotta start sometime."

"And if they don't oblige us and come one at a time?"

"We'll go to plan B. How's the ammo?"

Lara looked to her MP5 - the stock once again extended for long range accuracy.

"This magazine is at one half...two more where it came from."

"Anything we can use in the APC?"

Lara was just about to turn around when the lumbering form of a truck came around the bend.

"Hold it! No time!"

Lara returned to her position behind the door. In that moment she wondered how much real protection it would afford to the plethora of weapons that Elder's people carried.

"Just a little more...there!"

Max fired another salvo of rockets. When backing up the car, he had carefully lined up his shot, and both struck home in the cab. The mighty explosion lifted the front end of the truck off of the ground a full feet before crashing back to earth.

Max had hoped that the blast would have thrown the truck off of the cliff - now they were completely trapped.

Dazed troops began to file out of the ruined truck. Lara began to fire at them with the MP5, her short bursts making them dive for cover. Max fired the rockets again, but they served to only provide a light show and further damage the crippled transport.

Moments later, Elder's troops regrouped and began to fire on the Subaru. Lara expended another Magazine in their direction, and Max opened up with his shotgun. However, due to the range at which he was firing, there was little to no effect.

From his right, Max heard a slight whimper, and turned to see a hole in the door's coach work and Lara regarding her bloodied shorts.

"You okay?" he yelled in between bursts.

"Just my thigh - I've been in worse spots." 

Lara turned her attention back to her attackers and emptied the remnants of magazine.

"I'm out."

"Get strapped in...."

"What?"

Max let out a particularly long burst from the USAS, the recoil driving him into his seat.

"Shut up and get strapped in - we're going down..."

The windscreen turned to spider webs as several rounds found their mark. Lara fumbled with her harness as Max threw his shotgun into the rear of the car. In a last-ditch effort to provide cover, Max fired the last two salvos while his aim was still true.

"Hold on," he offered as he put the Subaru into gear and drove off of the cliff.


	29. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Lara could see nothing. The safety glass of the windscreen was a mess of distortions and white.

Lara could do nothing. Her belts held her firmly in place and she was helpless before the drop...

Lara was scared - and then the bottom of the world fell from beneath her.

In that instant, she was no longer a world-renowned adventurer, o longer the idol of millions - she was a scared little girl in a disabled airliner with death tugging at the sleeve of her dress. She turned to her left, expecting to see her friend Amanda, her hands held over a scream that would not come. Instead she saw Max, his pale face a mask of determination.

Max had her back.

The eternity that they been weightless came to and end, gravity returned and bore its full wrath down upon Lara. The straps of the belts bit painfully into her chest, crushing the air from her lungs. Instinctively, she tried to re-fill them, but found that she was unable to inhale.

Panic began to set in. This was not as it was before. Before she had lived. Even in all the nightmares of the plane crash, she knew that she would survive - but this time it was not to be.

Another terrific impact jostled her, but even that terrible force was not enough to get her breathing again. In need of help, she turned, very slowly, to Max.

"Help me."

Of course, no words were formed for her plea, and even if they were, Max would not have heard them. He was wrenching the wheel right and left. Max seemed to be in a great automotive struggle with death itself, fighting to keep Lara safe.

Max had her back.

In the slow-motion that life had become, Lara forgot her lack of oxygen and realized just what Max was doing - or rather, what he was not...

Every man Lara had known had always wanted something from her. True, many of them just wanted a night of passion, but others were either intent on ingratiation themselves with her, or proving that they were better than she. No one, save for Max, had ever been there for no real reason. Even Winston, dear Winston, who had served her with such skill - did so only because of her Aunt's dying wish.

Just the sight of her friend made everything a little better. She felt the fear melt away, even as the window behind Max turned from rock to sunlight and back.

Then it was over.

With a final jolt, the Impreza came to a rest. The car became very quiet, and Lara wheezed in a single, small breath. She could see Max look at her, and saw him mouth the words, "are you okay?" However, she realized that the silence that had befallen them was merely a high-pitched ringing in her ears.

The ringing soon subsided, as did her difficulty in breathing. Satisfied that she was okay, Max turned his attention to that problems at hand. He tried to open his door - no luck. The roll over had mashed the thing shut. He was trying to work out a method of climbing out the window when he happened to glance at the instrument cluster. There was nothing wrong with the gauges, despite the punishment that they had received in the recent past - but there was something about the tachometer...

It was hovering just over eight hundred RPMs - the engine was still running! Smiling to himself, Max decided to save the damage report until they had gotten themselves out of immediate danger. With the car in gear, Max gave it some throttle.

While the car did get moving, there was a terrible sound coming from the rear passenger side. As there were tracers already incoming from the mountain, Max chose to ignore the sound and accelerated from the area with as much speed as he could muster.

* * *

After five miles, Max and Lara decided they were well out of range of Elder's employees. He stopped the car so that they could survey the damage that had been done.

None of the windows of the little car had survived the plummet unscathed, nor had the body panels. However, they had seen proof that the engine was operational, and that was good news.

The driver's rear wheel was not. The tire had been shredded, but more to the point the entire wheel seemed to be stuck under the fender well. Max surveyed the damage while Lara broke out her medical supplies to tend to her recent gunshot wound.

"I think we might be able to fix this, this is so cool..." Max informed her from shaky legs.

"And why do you say that?"

"It's just a bent cross member, we can bend it back."

"Why are you smiling?"

"We're alive, for one. Also, this same damn thing happened to the Subaru team earlier this year."

"Not your rallys again. How do we fix it?"

"We need two big rocks."

"Plenty of those about."

"Yeah, I see. We just jack up the car, remove the bent piece and smash it straight. Slap it back on with a new tire and we're good to go - Colin McRae won the next three stages after doing it in Argentina. Damn, there's never a camera around when you're doing something really cool..."

Lara did much of the work removing the damaged pieces, as Max was far too weak to be of much help - his condition was getting worse. As she fought her own discomfort and fatigue (against the clock, of course) the name that Max had uttered kept rolling over in her mind, she knew it from somewhere...

"Max, this McRae chap..."

"Greatest driver who ever lived, until he goes to Ford next year - then he'll suck the massive one."

"Quite," she placated as she worked loose the last bolt on the damaged suspension component. "I think I knew him from my schooling - he is a Scotsman, right?"

"No..."

"McRae sounds..."

"...no..."

"What is wrong?"

"There is no way that you went to school with Colin McRae, fate is not that evil!"

Lara slammed a rock upon the cross member, annoyed (again) at Max.

"It's a common name, this racer might be a different chap from my schoolmate."

"Didn't you find out what happened to him after graduation?"

"I'm not really that involved in alumni events..." she replied as she hit the piece a final time. "Is that right?"

"Sure, fine. I can't believe that you never told me that you knew my hero..."

"I had no idea."

"You suck, I hate you. Now, lets get these pieces on and get out of here."

The replaces the straightened part and affixed a new tire. Both were looking back the way they came often, expecting a line of lorries to pursue, but none came - they had made it clear.

The return trip was taken at a much slower pace, as the auto was making some unpleasant noises and neither of them wanted to push it into retirement, and the absence of a windscreen would have made reasonable speeds difficult.


	30. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Lara completed the dressing to her thigh. The local anesthetic that she had applied had numbed the area sufficiently to remove the slug herself - removal of bullets was taking less and less pain killer the more times she was shot. Perhaps one day she would be bullet proof?

Perhaps not.

The cargo area of the Boxcar now seemed more deserted and lonely than on their previous trip, far more empty...

...Max's car was not with them.

The airport had been placed on alert before they had arrived and ground security personnel immediately began to pursue the little wagon - just as Jon was taking off. Max had managed to reach the C119 safely, the pursuing UAZs never had a chance to catch the turbo charged Subaru.

Jon had the rear "clam shell" doors open for their entrance, and the Impreza slid into the cargo bay perfectly as the large cargo liner was on final takeoff. Moments later, more ground vehicles had blocked off the runway, forcing Jon to activate the Jet-Assisted-Take-Off boosters that had been concealed as wing fuel tanks.

The resulting force and lift carried the aircraft into the air quickly, but has the opposite effect on the little car, which had yet to be secured in the cargo area, plummeting to the ground from a hundred feet through the rear doors.

Luckily, Max and Lara had already exited the vehicle and managed to hand onto the webbing that lined the rear of the aircraft and were unharmed as they made their escape.

Max had not spoken since that incident.

Now, the aircraft and its passengers were safely out of Russian airspace and en route to Alaska. With the bandage applied (not too loose, not too tight) she rose and proceeded to the jump seats where Max had collapsed - she had something to share with him that just might lift his spirits.

Staring at the wall, Max was shaking his head as though trying to figure out a calculus problem without pen, paper, or calculator. Lara was torn by her friend's depression, for a large part of her was still buzzing from the excitement of a successful excursion. However, another part of her shared the pain that Max must have been feeling, as his excursion had be almost entirely unsuccessful.

She very much wanted the two of them to celebrate their moments of victory together and perhaps, just perhaps, there was a chance of just that event happening. She closed her hand around the small device and took a seat by Max's feet.

"You once told me that your bum wouldn't be worth beans if your project failed."

"It was hill of beans, and right now, it ain't."

"You're alive, must be worth more than beans..."

"Yeah, but I took a healthy advance on this whole project, and they are gonna want that back now that I got nothin' - probably sue me too."

"If it's money that..."

"No. Lara, I love you, but no. This is my deal, and I'll take the heat."

Lara paused for a moment after hearing the tired (yet still powerful) phrase of affection. It had been a terrible long time since someone had uttered those words to her in sincerity - it felt good.

"As you wish..."

"Man! Nothin'! I mean, I've gone out and not gotten any footage plenty of times or lost a camera or even a car, but I lost all of that great stuff - could've been really great."

"It's not all lost."

"What?" Max perked up instantly, "tell me you found some of the tapes after I got hit, I can put it back together, cut whatever is left..."

"No, Max. This was in your car."

Lara opened her hand to reveal a digital camera. 

"I found this is your little..." she almost said 'purse,' but the moment was a little too solemn to chide Max's effeminate accessorization, "bag."

Powering it on, the small display presented a picture of Max and Lara striking poses before Mount Koryaksky.

"Not really enough to make a movie out of, is it?"

"No, but I'll treasure it always - assuming that you'll send me a copy."

"You got it. I'll e-mail you just before they repo my computer."

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself, you're not very good at it."

"Sorry."

"Accepted."

"Ah, I can always go back to my old stuff, or maybe it's time for a career change for the old Maxi-Pad."

"A door never closes without another opening."

"Cheesy Lara, really cheesy."

"Quite."

"Wonder if the insurance will pay for the Sooby? Don't think I covered it for impromptu-dive-bombing-mission loss..."

"There are many cars out there."

"Yeah, I know...I had a helluva time turboing that normally aspirated two-point-two liter, don't wanna go through that again..."

"I happen to have a turbo Subaru I might be willing to part with - for a reasonable sum..."

"Thanks, but I'm really not looking to take a hand-out right now. I did all of this, I went in with eyes open - it's my responsibility."

"Our little adventure would have turned out very differently if you hadn't been there...I feel that I owe you something."

"Oh, I think that you owe me at least two, but I'm not asking for anything right now - 'cept maybe a drink..."

"Can't help you there - won't, actually."

"I know."

There was a moment between the two, and then it dawned on Lara...

"There still might be some who are interested in your story, even without and film..."

"Video..."


	31. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Max was surrounded by a crowd of people, trying to make his way to the far side of the immense room. He was dressed in his typical attire, the loud shirt, the satchel, the khakis, and the cap - but he wore an undershirt beneath his island garment to conceal the deep burns that had occurred as a result of an ancient laser blast.

Three months had been enough to heal the wounds, but Max was not quite ready to share his scars with the rest of the world...

...not yet.

He had not seen his friend in person since they parted company at Elmendorf Air Force Base hospital, but they had continued their contact with each other. Soon after returning to his family, Max was contacted by the fat, effeminate man who had scolded Lara so about him writing a book about his recent adventure, something to serve as a companion piece to Lara's own travelogue. Max hastily agreed, but requested another associate to edit his work.

This advance had more than repaid the History Central funds, and it appeared that there would be little chance of them taking legal action against Max - for he had very little for them to take. His recovery was spent writing his side of the travels that he and Lara had taken together, but their opening day (what the hell did you call it when a book is released) was not until next week...

...what was he doing here?

The crowds that surrounded, pushed and bumped Max were all excited the Electronic Entertainment Exposition 1998 - each wanting to see the new game titles first. Lara had sent Max a round-trip ticket and instructions to him to meet her here at the current time (without his camera) - but where was she...

Passing the colossal Sony area, Max was very near to another display that was surrounded by what looked to be a half completed stone wall interspersed with steel trusses. Sitting atop an inline on this wall was a plastic representation of his friend - he had found the right place. He made his way through the crowd (much more dense here) towards the display when the normal lighting was dimmed and strobe lights began to spring to life all about it. A deafening voice could be heard over the roar of the crowds.

"You've traveled with her in search of the Scion and the dagger, now join Lara Croft in her most dangerous encounter ever. Ladies and gentlemen...the TOMB RAIDER!!!"

Techno music began to blare and the lights illuminated a runway with a Harley parked at the end - and out she came. Max fought a smile when he saw Lara's outfit - the shiny, glittering leotard, the patent leather holsters, the obviously fake pistols she brandished.

Oh, he was never going to let her live this down...all that was needed to make the perfect cheese-ball moment would have been to replace the techno beat with "I'm too sexy".

She walked the runway as a good little model, then sat upon the Chopper - Max recalled her owning several Nortons - as what seemed like millions of camera flashed blazed through the exhibition hall. The crowd pushed forward, taking Max with them and pinning him to the edge of the stage.

With his new position, he saw Lara much closer, noting the extremely fake smile she wore as she gazed about the legions of adoring fans. Her face suddenly changed as their eyes met and a truthful smile spread from ear to ear. This was not one of the many grins that she had shot at Max after insulting him or his possessions - she was very, very happy to see her friend.

A hand was extended down to him, and a moment later Max had joined her upon the stage, and the noise from the crowd subsided considerably. Max momentarily thought that he has simply not as popular as his friend, then noticed that she had extended her hand, beckoning the crowd to be silent.

"Hello everyone, it's so good to see so many of you here!" her voice echoed through the area via a small boom microphone she wore.

"You're all probably wondering who this very lucky chap it, aren't you? This is Max Reynolds, the only person who has even been able to keep up with me - and lived to tell the tale!"

Laughter rolled thought the assembled conventioneers.

"You've played my games and read my books, now you can read at from someone else's point of view - both of our new books will be available next Wednesday, get them both!"

Max suddenly realized that maybe, maybe it just might be better for him to hang up his trigger-happy video persona and reap the benefits of being the sidekick to a mega-babe adventurer as felt his financial troubles fading away...

...and then he understood.

It was over half an hour later before the two could actually speak with each other one-on-one. She spoke to the crowd, answered a few questions and then began to fight with the corporate representatives present. They were angry at Lara for promoting her new book, something that they had expressly forbidden her to do.

Lara emerged from her make-shift dressing room wearing jeans, the shirt Max had given her months before and a baseball cap - the better to go incognito with. Max read the logo emblazoned on the cap.

"Hey, where did you get that?"

It was a promotional item for another new release - _Colin McRae Rally._

"I got it from him - turns out that we were schoolmates after all..."

Max withdrew his own headgear, revealing a serious case of hat-head.

"Trade ya'..."

"Not likely. Why don't we head over there and get you your own."

"They have a display here?"

"Yes."

"Is _he_ here?"

"Yes."

"Lead on..."

Max followed her through the dispersing crowds, the day's events over and both patrons and publishers retired to any one of a number of pubs.

"Thank you," Max began, "you didn't have to do this."

"No bother, their box is just over here."

"Lara, Mamma didn't raise a fool. Idiot? Maybe. Fool? No. You didn't have to get up there in that ridiculous outfit..."

"They have been trying to get me up there for years. Now, they'll never ask again - probably get some model into the kit next time..."

"Lara," he paused until she looked to him, his eyes getting very glossy until he responded in a quiet voice, "thank you."

He embraced her, but kept her on the ground this time. Lara broke away from him, emotions also near the surface.

"Come now, we've got to get your cap..."

They soon reached the CodeMasters booth and Lara broke from Max to speak with one of the attendants for a few moments. Max looked about the booth anxiously, hoping to catch a glimpse of his hero. After he determined that the world champion rallyist was not nearby, he returned to Lara and the attendant - who was speaking into a radio.

"I'm afraid that they are all out of the caps here, but they have more in the lorry behind."

"It's not that big of a deal..."

"No, you'll have your cap - we've been through far worse than this and I am not about to give up..."

"All right, lead the way..."

The two negotiated the bowels of the building before emerging from one of the service entrances. Parked before this door was a discheveled-looking Impreza Coupe. Scratched marred the body and what may have once been sponsorship decals had been hastily removed...

"That's the World Rally Car..." Max said with all the breath he could muster...

"Yes. Come on, we've to get your hat," Lara replied as she tried to pull him from the area.

"What is it doing here?"

"Ya dunna 'spect me to drive anything else, du ya?" asked a Scottish voice from behind them.

Max whirled around - it was him. 

"Colin McRae..." Max said as he extended his hand.

"Lara, ye tuld me his name was Max," the man replied with a toothy grin.

"Sorry...sorry, this is just kinda a big moment for me here..."

"I understand."

Lara had taken a few steps back to admire her work. Max, on the other hand, was struggling to make small-talk with his hero.

"So, you actually drove that here?"

"Yeah, we gave it tree rallies - and that's it. This's the one Nicky and had ta' poot back togedder in Argentina..."

"Really! I had to do the same thing..." the Scotsman's smile told Max that he had already heard the story.

"Take 'er 'round the park, if ye want..."

"No...I couldn't"

"Go on."

Max almost ran to the car as Colin turned to Lara, "best to go with 'im, keep 'im on the left..."

Lara nodded with a smile and joined Max at wriggling through the roll cage into the racing seats.

"Dammit, keys..." Max stated and started to get out of the car.

"Here they are Max," Lara said, extending her hand.

Max grabbed the key, noticing that there was a colorful fob handing from the item. He took an interest in it because such things were so dangerous to have in a competition environment.

It was a small plastic slug, made to look like a license plate. Strange thing was, it was the plate native to the American state of Ohio - Max's home...

...and the plate read "MAX".

"No..."

"Yes, Max - it's all yours..."

"Lara...I...you...there is no...I wanna...nice to me...but it..."

"Start the bloody engine..."

Max managed to regain himself for a moment.

"Lara, this is just too much..."

"This is your auto, the papers are all in order. If you want to just leave it here, I'm sure the bobbies will tow it away in short order. Or, you can take this home and run your rallies - which would you prefer?"

"All right, but I'm gonna need a co-driver, you up for it?"

"We'll see..."

Max gave a wave to his hero and the two rocketed off into the London twilight.


	32. Epilogue

Epilogue

With the new auto safely tucked away in a parking structure, Max and lara dined together. After the meal, they decided to stroll London in the anonymity that the night afforded.

"You never told me where all those little doo-dads were leading you..."

"Well, it turns out that the final coordinates are somewhere in Colorado..."

"Back where this whole thing started?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"I know the coordinates, but the area is owned by the United States Government and I can get no further information."

"Top Secret stuff..."

"Yes. I suppose that I will look into it one of these days, but I have an appointment in Egypt after all of the festivities here are concluded."

"What's the prize?"

"An amulet depicting the Egyptian God Horus."

"Sounds like fun."

"You don't want to come along, do you?"

"No thanks, I think I might spend a little time on that second book. It's amazing, sitting in front of my computer is a lot less stressful than mucking around some jungle...or urban battlefield...or desert."

"It was pleasant having a partner, but I think I'm ready to work alone again."

Max slowed his pace and produced a DV cassette from his leather purse.

"What is that?"

"Well, this is a tape, but you're a clever one - you already got that."

"Quite."

"What this really is...atonement. I'd been planning to destroy this thing since we got back from Russia, but I just couldn't find a moment that was quite dramatic enough. For the record, I am not doing this because of the book deal or the car - though it seems like it now..."

With that, Max hurled the tape into the river.

"Are you going to tell me what it contained?"

"No, not for a long time. Trust me, we can laugh about it a long time from now."

"How long is a _long time_?"

"Old and gray Lara, old and gray..."


End file.
